Help with english homework, need to word what it means.

According the Oxford English Dictionary, if you “turn the tables” on someone, it is generally understood that you have reversed the fortunes in your favor to some capacity, so as to “reverse one's position relative to someone else, especially by turning a position of disadvantage into one of advantage

But I don't get it, if I turn a table, wouldn't it be just the same?

I don't think we understand what you are trying to ask. Rephrase the question maybe?

only if you turn it 360 degrees, which is not what the phrase means. I assume the saying originates from card games. Picture players sitting around a table with their cards in front of them. Say one guy has really good cards and the guy across from him has really bad cards. Now turn the table 180 degrees. Bam, now each man's fortune has reversed.



This post was edited by Kayeto on May 6 2017 04:01am