'turf-connected' originates from English, specifically the words 'turf' and 'connect/connected', where 'turf' originally meant 'sod/ground' and later came to be used slangily for the horse-racing world, and 'connect/connected' comes from Latin roots meaning 'to bind together.'

'turf' comes from Old English/Old Norse (e.g. Old Norse 'torf') meaning 'sod, turf' and later in 18th–19th century English developed the slang sense of 'the racing world'; 'connect' comes from Latin 'connectere' (con- 'together' + nectere 'to bind'), passing through Old French and Middle English into modern English. The compound 'turf-connected' is a modern English formation combining the slang sense of 'turf' with the participial adjective 'connected.'

Initially 'turf' meant 'sod' or 'ground'; over time the word acquired the figurative sense 'the world of horse racing,' and combined with 'connected' to mean 'having ties or influence in that world.'