turnip for the book

English

Alternative forms

• turnip for the books

Etymology

A humorous variation on turn up for the book.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

turnip for the book

1. (humorous) A very unexpected surprise or occurrence.
   • 1974, Gordon Williams, Big Morning Blues, London […]: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN, page 102:

     You've got these Swedes in your office—that was a turnip for the books. Do go on.

   • 1999, Terry Deary, The Savage Stone Age, London: Hippo, →ISBN, page 43:

     Swedes fired arrows into their corpses, though we don't know why. (This is better than corpses firing arrows into swedes which would be a real turnip for the book.)

References

• “a turnip for the books” under “turnip, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.