"arsy versy" meaning in English

See arsy versy in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Etymology: Alteration of arsa versa, a blend of an alteration of arse + vice versa, modeled on vicey versey. Etymology templates: {{m|en|arsa versa}} arsa versa, {{m|en|arse}} arse, {{m|en|vice versa}} vice versa, {{m|en|vicey versey}} vicey versey Head templates: {{en-adv|-|nolinkhead=1}} arsy versy (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic, British, vulgar) Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards. Tags: British, idiomatic, not-comparable, vulgar Synonyms: arsey versey, arsy versey, arsey versy, arsy varsy Synonyms (backwards): ass over teakettle [vulgar], ass backwards [vulgar], back-asswards [vulgar]
    Sense id: en-arsy_versy-en-adv-Hdw4vEib Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header

Download JSON data for arsy versy meaning in English (3.0kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "arsa versa"
      },
      "expansion": "arsa versa",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "arse"
      },
      "expansion": "arse",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "vice versa"
      },
      "expansion": "vice versa",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "vicey versey"
      },
      "expansion": "vicey versey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Alteration of arsa versa, a blend of an alteration of arse + vice versa, modeled on vicey versey.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "arsy versy (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1548, Nicholas Udall (translator), The Paraphrase of Erasmus upon the Newe Testamente, London: Edward Whitchurch, Volume 1, Luke 16,\nWho would not haue iudged that same ryche man to haue been a perfecte exaumple and paterne of most welthie and happy state: and this poore Lazare man to be a paterne of vtter miserie? But felicitie is in nowyse to be measured by such thinges as fortune geueth to men in this lyfe. But in the matter that we nowe speake of, altogether was sodainly turned in and out clene arsie versy."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1612, Benvenuto, The Passenger of Benvenuto",
          "text": "Dost thou not know that from the beginning the world goes arsie-versie.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1587, Raphael Holinshed et al., “The Description of Ireland”, in Chronicles of England, Scotlande and Irelande, page 26",
          "text": "[…] the estate of that flourishing towne was turned arsie versie, topside the otherwaie, and from abundance of prosperitie quite exchanged to extreame penurie.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York: Viking, page 457",
          "text": "You put your back up in the wrong place and you’re passive in the wrong place. You’ve got everything arsy-versy. […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Julian Barnes, chapter 8, in A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, New York: Knopf, page 194",
          "text": "Us going in on foot and then the equipment being airlifted in is about as arsy-versy as you can get.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards."
      ],
      "id": "en-arsy_versy-en-adv-Hdw4vEib",
      "links": [
        [
          "head over heels",
          "head over heels"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, British, vulgar) Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "backwards",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "ass over teakettle"
        },
        {
          "sense": "backwards",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "ass backwards"
        },
        {
          "sense": "backwards",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "back-asswards"
        },
        {
          "word": "arsey versey"
        },
        {
          "word": "arsy versey"
        },
        {
          "word": "arsey versy"
        },
        {
          "word": "arsy varsy"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "arsy versy"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "arsa versa"
      },
      "expansion": "arsa versa",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "arse"
      },
      "expansion": "arse",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "vice versa"
      },
      "expansion": "vice versa",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "vicey versey"
      },
      "expansion": "vicey versey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Alteration of arsa versa, a blend of an alteration of arse + vice versa, modeled on vicey versey.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "arsy versy (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English adverbs",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncomparable adverbs",
        "English vulgarities",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1548, Nicholas Udall (translator), The Paraphrase of Erasmus upon the Newe Testamente, London: Edward Whitchurch, Volume 1, Luke 16,\nWho would not haue iudged that same ryche man to haue been a perfecte exaumple and paterne of most welthie and happy state: and this poore Lazare man to be a paterne of vtter miserie? But felicitie is in nowyse to be measured by such thinges as fortune geueth to men in this lyfe. But in the matter that we nowe speake of, altogether was sodainly turned in and out clene arsie versy."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1612, Benvenuto, The Passenger of Benvenuto",
          "text": "Dost thou not know that from the beginning the world goes arsie-versie.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1587, Raphael Holinshed et al., “The Description of Ireland”, in Chronicles of England, Scotlande and Irelande, page 26",
          "text": "[…] the estate of that flourishing towne was turned arsie versie, topside the otherwaie, and from abundance of prosperitie quite exchanged to extreame penurie.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York: Viking, page 457",
          "text": "You put your back up in the wrong place and you’re passive in the wrong place. You’ve got everything arsy-versy. […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Julian Barnes, chapter 8, in A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, New York: Knopf, page 194",
          "text": "Us going in on foot and then the equipment being airlifted in is about as arsy-versy as you can get.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "head over heels",
          "head over heels"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, British, vulgar) Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "backwards",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "ass over teakettle"
    },
    {
      "sense": "backwards",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "ass backwards"
    },
    {
      "sense": "backwards",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "back-asswards"
    },
    {
      "word": "arsey versey"
    },
    {
      "word": "arsy versey"
    },
    {
      "word": "arsey versy"
    },
    {
      "word": "arsy varsy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "arsy versy"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (1d5a7d1 and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.