Arse over (small bird)

Posted by Smokey Stover November 16, 2003In reply to Arse over (small bird) posted by Smokey Stover on November 15, 2003

This is a popular phrase that seems to be missing in your website. It is also spelt "Ass over teakettle". Don't know if this is Canadian or not, though I've seen "arse over turkey" in the Penguin Dictionary of Historical Slang (UK).
It means, taking a tumble, i.e. going "head over heels".

++Check the archives under "ass end over a teakettle"

"Arse over tit" = falling forwards
"Going t i t s up" = slipping over backwards

Are such things as 'teakettles' where a rude word is replaced by one of the same letter or sounding similar - still "euphemisms" or is there a more specific word?

U.S. usage in my youth: "ass over teapot!" Perhaps this was a regional form, but I don't thnk so.

Nrs, Stover has informed me that the expression heard in my youth was "Ass over teacup." I regret the error. The OED Online cites examples of "Arse over tip" and "Arse over tit."