Literal translation
In a turn-of-the-hand.
Meaning
in a trice
Explanation
The expression joins two separately attested notions, tourno, the turn or the act of turning back, and man, the hand, to form a compound literally meaning the turning of a hand, an image of a brief, instantaneous gesture. It corresponds to the equivalent French phrase built the same way, sharing both structure and meaning: to accomplish something as quickly as one turns one's hand, without effort or perceptible delay. It belongs to the same family as dins un vira d'uei, one of the many ways Provençal, like French, measures speed through a minimal bodily gesture. The register is ordinary, without particular nuance: it describes the quick execution of a task, often with a touch of admiration for the ease or skill of the person performing it. The compound form tourno-man is not itself a headword in our sources, but its two components are, and their pairing faithfully mirrors the equivalent French construction.