the worm turns
- idiom
- Informal
:
la venganza del oprimido
- She used to let her colleagues take credit for her work, but finally the worm turns and she stood up for herself.
Examples
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After months of losing, suddenly the worm turns and the team starts winning every game.
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When the government raised taxes, the worm turned for many citizens.
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In many classic stories, the worm turns at the most unexpected moment, surprising everyone.
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Finally, the worm turns for the oppressed workers!
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After being ignored for so long, the quiet student finally spoke up, and the worm turned in the classroom discussion.
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The company had a rough start, but when the new manager arrived, the worm turned and profits began to rise.
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He had always been bullied, but one day he decided to fight back, realizing that the worm turns when you stand up for yourself.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The proverb's sense of an oppressed person suddenly resisting or fortunes reversing is a conventionalized metaphor that is not directly inferable from the literal meanings of 'worm' (a small creature or insult) and 'turn' (to change direction). A B1 learner who knows the component words would not predict this social/figurative meaning without prior exposure, so the expression is idiomatic and culturally conventional rather than transparently compositional.
Etymology
The proverb the worm turns may come from a simple image: a small worm usually lies quiet, but if you step on it it will twist and try to fight back. So the phrase means that someone who has been treated badly finally 'stands up for themselves' or that 'luck changes'.