arsy-varsy

arsy-varsy
/ahr"see vahr"see/, Informal.
adj.
1. wrong end foremost; completely backward: an arsy-varsy way of doing things.
adv.
2. in a backward or thoroughly mixed-up fashion: The papers are all filed arsy-varsy. Also, arsyversy /ahr"see verr"see/.
[1530-40; prob. alter. of L vice versa (see VICE VERSA), with ARSE substituted to make a facetious rhyming compound; for L versa > varsy, cf. ARGAL3]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • arsy-varsy —  head over heels ; down came t Tit, and away tumbled she, arsy varsy. Der. and N …   A glossary of provincial and local words used in England

  • arsy varsy — adverb Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards. Syn: ass over teakettle, ass backwards, back asswards …   Wiktionary

  • arsy varsy — Synonyms and related words: a rebours, against the grain, anarchic, ass over elbows, ass backwards, back to front, backwards, balled up, bollixed up, by contraries, capsized, chaotic, chiastic, confused, contra, contrarily, contrariously,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • arsy varsy — upside down; reversed; backwards (British Colloquial) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • arsy-varsy — ar·sy var·sy …   English syllables

  • arsy varsy —  Topsy turvy …   A concise dictionary of English slang

  • arsy-varsy — …   Useful english dictionary

  • arsy-versy — I. adverb see arsy varsy I II. adjective see arsy varsy II …   Useful english dictionary

  • backward — adv 1. rearward, towards the back, in reverse, vice versa, upside down, topsyturvy, inside out, back in front; crablike, retrocessive ly, retrogressively, regressively, Scot, and North. Eng. backlins; Naut. aback, Naut. abaft, Naut. aft, Naut.… …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

  • helter-skelter — adv 1. pell mell, hurry scurry, harum scarum, wildly; headlong, headfirst, head over heels; rashly, recklessly, precipitately, unwarily, carelessly, heedlessly, injudiciously, thoughtlessly; impetuously, impulsively, hastily, hurriedly. 2.… …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

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