Ass Over Teakettle

[McKenna]

I looked this up. I was curious. I mean, why "ass over teakettle"? I couldn't find a satisfactory reason why "teakettle" is used and not, say, "cofeepot".

Anyone else know?

My Gram used to say that all the time. I still giggle when I think of her saying it. (Think daughter of a proper English lady who used to get her calves whipped when she dared to go without her stockings. circa 1920)

 

[ABSTRUSE]

My Gram used to say "You'll shit when you eat enough".

 

[McKenna]

You're just the way I like my wimmin: Insane.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

You're just the way I like my wimmin: Insane.

Can I quote you on that?

So where does "Kick the bucket" come from?

 

[velvetpie]

My grandma never cussed. I heard her say 'Hell' and thought I was going to have a heart attack when I heard that! I think the idiom 'ass over teakettle' essentially means that you're in over your head and that the steam is going to remind you of that fact.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Ass over teakettle is one of many variants of an expression meaning 'head over heels; topsy-turvy; in confusion'. The usual British version is ass over tip (or tit).
The earliest known example of the phrase is in an 1899 book about Virginia folk exressions, which defines "ass over head" as "Head over heels; topsy-turvy." (Note that "ass over head" is a logical expression for a messed-up situation, as opposed to "head over heels," which would seem to be the natural order of things.)

You can find more here:
Euphamisms

 

[Guest]

 

[McKenna]

My grandma never cussed. I heard her say 'Hell' and thought I was going to have a heart attack when I heard that! I think the idiom 'ass over teakettle' essentially means that you're in over your head and that the steam is going to remind you of that fact.

I found a bit about the definition, so I know what it means, I just don't know where it came from.

Apparently (and perhaps one of the UK Litizens can confirm) in the UK they say "ass over tip" or "ass over tit". Means the same thing, like topsy-turvy. I've only ever heard "ass over teakettle".

Source.


Gram wasn't foul-mouthed, just spirited. Her other favorite saying was something like "damn foolishness". Like, I'd ask her, "Gram, why did you buy that?"

"Oh, for damned foolishness."

I think the modern equivalent would be "for shits and giggles".

 

[McKenna]

Can I quote you on that?

So where does "Kick the bucket" come from?

Good question. I don't know.


(You beat me to the other, damn it. You're just Quick Draw McGraw ... or something like that.)

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Good question. I don't know.


(You beat me to the other, damn it. You're just Quick Draw McGraw ... or something like that.)

I love to ferret out useless information on the internet.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I love to ferret out useless information on the internet.

Where did "Horse's Ass" come from Rhino??

 

[CharleyH]

Ass over teakettle is one of many variants of an expression meaning 'head over heels; topsy-turvy; in confusion'. The usual British version is ass over tip (or tit).
The earliest known example of the phrase is in an 1899 book about Virginia folk exressions, which defines "ass over head" as "Head over heels; topsy-turvy." (Note that "ass over head" is a logical expression for a messed-up situation, as opposed to "head over heels," which would seem to be the natural order of things.)

You can find more here:
Euphamisms

You are a living - breathing and walking Wikipedia!

 

[Liar]

Can I quote you on that?

So where does "Kick the bucket" come from?

Ask and thy shall have someone Google you answers.

Courtsey of www.word-detective.com

According to a marvelous little book called "Slang Down the Ages" by Jonathon Green, there are actually two possible origins for "kick the bucket," both suitably grisly. It seems that one method of slaughtering a pig used to involve hanging it upside down from a beam by means of a piece of wood called a "bucket." The dying animal would, naturally, "kick the bucket." The other possible origin refers to a method of hanging oneself, which involved standing on a bucket, tightening the noose, and then kicking away the bucket. Since the phrase "kick the bucket" dates back to at least the 16th century, neither of these can definitively be called the "genuine" origin.

 

[McKenna]

I love to ferret out useless information on the internet.

Yes. In my next life, I'd like this to be my career. Then I could write a book on all the useless information I'd gathered.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

You are a living - breathing and walking Wikipedia!

No, that's Whackypedia.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Yes. In my next life, I'd like this to be my career. Then I could write a book on all the useless information I'd gathered.

They have one out already, it's called the Bible.

 

[Liar]

Yes. In my next life, I'd like this to be my career. Then I could write a book on all the useless information I'd gathered.

Alread ahead of you. I get paid for doing this kind of shit.

 

[McKenna]

They have one out already, it's called the Bible.

I you.

 

[McKenna]

Alread ahead of you. I get paid for doing this kind of shit.

Grrrr. Swedish guys have all the luck.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I you.

You do know things like this are why I'm being punished in my life.

 

[McKenna]

You do know things like this are why I'm being punished in my life.

At least we can sit next to each other in hell.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

At least we can sit next to each other in hell.

I have my own suite, come over for a game of darts.

 

[Liar]

Grrrr. Swedish guys have all the luck.

Then why haven't I gotten laid for aeons?

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Then why haven't I gotten laid for aeons?

Because you're a finger throwing bear with a bad attitude and no one wants to fuck a Swede?

 

[Guest]