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I've noticed that in most cases around and round are omitted and that creates a strange sentence.

  • To turn the corner.

I understand what this means but I always want to ask "What do you want to turn the corner into?"

I've got accustomed to using "round" and "around" the corner. But it doesn't make much sense. Around is 180 degrees and round is in a shape of a circle or sphere.

I've heard people say:

  • To round the corner.

Does this make any sense?

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    If you look up "round" in a dictionary, as a transitive verb, you'll find a definition that fits here...
    – Nate Eldredge
    Apr 10, 2017 at 13:55
  • @NateEldredge I know it's meaning. It still says: to go around something... that means to do a 180 degrees turn. A corner is 90 degrees.
    – SovereignSun
    Apr 10, 2017 at 14:04
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    "Around" does not always have to mean 180 degrees. What makes you think it does?
    – Nate Eldredge
    Apr 10, 2017 at 14:07
  • @NateEldredge To turn around means to turn 180 degrees.
    – SovereignSun
    Apr 10, 2017 at 14:09
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    I actually want to partly retract my comment: we do see "turned round/around a corner" in live usage. For example, "Jane turned around the corner" - in the 1991 Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, no less! However, it still sounds odd to this US English speaker, and I wouldn't recommend it. It might be an older form that's less common now.
    – stangdon
    Apr 10, 2017 at 18:11

1 Answer 1

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around/round the corner
Meaning:

  • Not far away, next to, near to and not far away: local, close, nearly...
  • Coming very soon, soon and as soon as possible: soon, shortly, just...

If you say that something is around the corner, you mean that it is very near, close, going to happen soon.
In British English, you can also say that something is round the corner.
One of the differences between American and British English is the usage of the words round and around. Americans use around in contexts in which most British speakers prefer round.
According to a note in the British English section of Oxford Dictionaries, there is a general preference among British speakers to use round for: Definite, specific movement, and around in contexts that are less definite.

Example:
She turned round.
A bus came round the corner.
She wandered around for ages.
Around is often used with verbs of movement, such as walk and drive, also in phrasal verbs such as get around and hand around.
There's a great restaurant just round the corner.

Turn the corner
It is used as an Idiom and has the meaning:

  • to improve after going through something difficult
  • to pass a critical point in a process
  • if something or someone turns the corner, their situation starts to improve after a difficult period
  • begin to recover
  • to get safely past the critical point

Conclusion:
Around the corner is used with American English
Round the corner is used with British English

Reverso Dictionary
The Free Dictionary
Daily writing tips
Cambridge Dictionary
Collins

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    I would take that British English thing with a grain of salt. We often say in AmE: He came round the corner, without the a. It is not always the case by any means that one is exclusively BrE and the other exclusively AmE.
    – Lambie
    Apr 10, 2017 at 17:39
  • Both form are used and are correct
    – yass
    Apr 10, 2017 at 17:56
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    I never said both forms were not used. I said the distinction made by that dictionary is not 100% right. And reverso is terrible. Full of mistakes.
    – Lambie
    Apr 10, 2017 at 18:10
  • What about turn the corner? And round the corner? And any approved sources to backup the round/around difference?
    – SovereignSun
    Apr 11, 2017 at 5:04
  • How about a sentence? After their fight, he turned the corner. Round the corner, I could see the lights.
    – Lambie
    Apr 11, 2017 at 18:13

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