Discussion Groups / British English / July 2004

I think I first came across "turned round and said" (or "turn round
and say") in the late 1980s. I don't know if it was new then or if
moving to a different part of the country brought me into contact with
it. It seemed to be the preserve of the inarticulate reporting or
predicting heated conversations - "He said to me... so I turned round
and said... and then he turned round and said....(etc etc) It sounded
very strange at first. I'm not sure if it was supposed to add drama to
a dull tale or give the speaker more time to recall the next part of
it - perhaps both.

Recently I've heard the expression used by two fairly RP-ish BBC
finanancial journalists in their reports. One of them was suggesting
that if the directors of a company were to take a certain course of
action then the shareholders would be likely to "turn round and
say...". She used it several times. I wonder how widespread it has
become and what it's now supposed to convey. Street cred?