Head over heels

[Alison Murie]

On Feb 15, 2010, at 1:31 PM, wordmall wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       wordmall <wordmall at AOL.COM>
> Subject:      Head over heels
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>
> When you dissect it, "head over heels" doesn't make much sense. Our
> head=
> is SUPPOSED to be over our heels. I understand that the original was
> "hee=
> ls over head" (signifying a cartwheel), and that does make sense.
>
> My question: is there a word for such a reversal of image? (I can't
> think=
> of another example at the moment.)
>
>
> ---------------------------
> Michael J. Sheehan
~~~~~~~~~~
While not an image, an example of a saying that intends the opposite
of what's actually said, is: "I could care less."
AM

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