Turned the corner

Posted by ESC on October 15, 2003

In Reply to: Turned the corner posted by Esther Wareham on October 15, 2003

: Hiya,

: Just wondered if anyone knows where the saying
: 'turned the corner'
: come from?

: I'd be really greatful if anyone out there could help

: Thanks in advance

This doesn't say it's the first use, but it is an early use of the expression.

TURNED THE CORNER - "Improve; begin to recover from a difficult situation (as an illness). The image is of taking a new and better direction. Charles Dickens employed it in a letter in 1837: 'I hope to find on Monday at 12 o'clock, that you have turned the corner and come back again." From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).