Turn in one's grave is an idiom to describe an extreme level of shock or an intense level of
surprise and is expressed as the vicarious sentiment of a deceased person. This hyperbolic figure of speech is used to describe the upset,
disgust
Disgust (Middle French: ''desgouster'', from Latin ''gustus'', "taste") is an emotional response of rejection or revulsion to something potentially contagious or something considered offensive, distasteful, or unpleasant. In ''The Expression o ...
, horror or anger of a
deceased person if they were alive to hear of a certain news story, action or idea—especially a negative one. It is also said of the deceased founder(s) of governments or private institutions if their extant leadership goes against the founder(s)' principles or pursue(s) programs that the founder(s) would not have executed or envisioned. The phrase dates from the nineteenth century.
Etymology
The earliest known example is a 4 November 1801 House of Commons speech by a Mr. Windham warning Britain against giving too much power to France during the preliminaries to peace following the revolutionary wars: "Thus have we done a thing altogether unknown in the history of this country ; a thing which would have scared all former politicians ; a thing, which, if our old Whig politicians were now to hear, they would turn in their graves."
One of the earliest uses is found in
William Thackeray's 1849 work ''
The History of Pendennis'', where Mrs. Wapshot, upset by a man's advances on the widow of Mr. Pendennis whom the widow had "never liked," says it's "enough to make poor Mr. Pendennis turn in his grave." Another early use of the phrase is in historian
James Bryce's 1888 work ''The American Commonwealth'' in which he said: "
Jefferson might turn in his
grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
if he knew."
It has also been said that circa 1906, when
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
was invited to
Henry Irving's funeral, he said "If I were at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...
, Henry Irving would turn in his grave, just as
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
would turn in his grave were Henry Irving at
Stratford," implying that Irving's productions of Shakespeare would have made the actor as offensive to Shakespeare as Shaw had made himself offensive to Irving with the numerous critical reviews he had written of Irving's work. In 1902, the work ''Current Literature'' stated that "
William Morris might well turn in his grave if he could see the uses to which his fine dreams of beautiful books have been put."
Where the sorry state of people's spelling/punctuation/literary skills come under criticism, the act is generally said to make "Shakespeare turn in his grave," as he is associated with high literary standards. One example of this is when a national newspaper opined that writing the word "cough" with an "F" would cause such a thing to occur.
See also
* "
Murrow Turning Over in His Grave"
* "
Roll Over Beethoven"
References
{{Reflist, 2
English-language idioms