Phrasal Verb Fun

turn on, turn off
Years ago, radios were large brown things that usually had knobs, or
rotating controls, that you had to
turn
. So, naturally, when you wanted to
hear the news at six o'clock you turned
on
the radio. And when you
finished the programme (US, program), you turned it off.
The technology has changed, of course, as it always does. But we still
turn on or turn off the TV, the computer, or anything else.
By extension, we use it to describe enthusiasm. If somebody seriously
excites you, you could say that he or she turns you on.
The opposite is also true. A man who picks his nose in public will turn
off
most people.
Put off
can have the same meaning.
We can also say in this situation that Mr Nosepicker will
put
people
off
.
BE CAREFUL with turn on. To turn someone on means to seriously excite
them, to get them enthusiastic, but to
turn on somebody
means to attack
them. There is a difference.
Separable two-word verbs
. Be careful.