[Idiom] Don't look now.

[emp0608]

Hi folks,

"Don't look now" is usually used as a little warning like:"Don't look now, but your ex just walked in." But can the expression also be used when you're about to tell someone some surprising or alarming information? I couldn't find any dictionary that refers to this usage.

Thanks as always,

emp0608

 

[Rover_KE]

No.

 

[GoesStation]

No. The expression derives from its literal meaning: Don't look (across the room) now (or you'll reveal that seeing her is painful to you), but your ex just walked in. This wouldn't make any sense in other contexts.

 

[emp0608]

Thank you, Rover_KE and GoesStation.
But in a podcast called “English as a Second Language”, the following conversation appears in its 1015th podcast titled Conducting a Search:
– I really think I should tell you...
–Don’t interrupt, please. The rest of you: Spread out and look in the parking lot and behind the buildings. Look high and low. We’ll search this place from top to bottom and leave no stone unturned. Now, are there any questions?
–Yes, is the little boy about five years old with brown hair and glasses?
–Yes, that’s right. How did you know?
–Don’t look now, but he’s just about to walk off with your Taser!

And the host says it's something like, "Guess what just happened."

 

[emp0608]

Two examples from COCA: Don't look now, but Islam is becoming the MSM's official religion of America.
Oh, don't look now, but somebody's eaten all your popsicles.

 

[GoesStation]

I would have said that's not how the expression is normally used. However, all the examples at fraze.it, which all come from sports commentators, use it to mean something like "this may surprise you". Such writers are notorious for misusing words and expressions, but they influence others, so I wouldn't be surprised to find that usage spreading.