BBB Etymology - Head over heels
To be "head over heels" almost always means that one has fallen madly in love in an impetuous and unconstrained way. But by itself it can also refer to one's state while turning a somersault or cartwheel.
It looks so odd because during its history it got turned upside down, just like the idea it represents. When it first appeared, in the 14th century, it was written as "heels over head", to turn a somersault. It became inverted around the end of the 18th century, possibly as the result of a series of mistakes by authors who didn't stop to think about the conventional phrase they were writing, or who found the stress pattern of "head over heels" more persuasive than the older form.
The two forms lived alongside each other for most of the next century – Davy Crockett was an early user of the modern form in 1834: "I soon found myself head over heels in love with this girl.'' As late as the early 20th century L Frank Baum consistently used the older form in his Oz books: "But suddenly he came flying from the nearest mountain and tumbled heels over head beside them." And Lucy Maud Montgomery stayed with it in her Anne of Windy Poplars, published in 1936: "Gerald's pole, which he had stuck rather deep in the mud, came away with unexpected ease at the third tug and Gerald promptly shot heels over head backward into the water."
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It looks so odd because during its history it got turned upside down, just like the idea it represents. When it first appeared, in the 14th century, it was written as "heels over head", to turn a somersault. It became inverted around the end of the 18th century, possibly as the result of a series of mistakes by authors who didn't stop to think about the conventional phrase they were writing, or who found the stress pattern of "head over heels" more persuasive than the older form.
The two forms lived alongside each other for most of the next century – Davy Crockett was an early user of the modern form in 1834: "I soon found myself head over heels in love with this girl.'' As late as the early 20th century L Frank Baum consistently used the older form in his Oz books: "But suddenly he came flying from the nearest mountain and tumbled heels over head beside them." And Lucy Maud Montgomery stayed with it in her Anne of Windy Poplars, published in 1936: "Gerald's pole, which he had stuck rather deep in the mud, came away with unexpected ease at the third tug and Gerald promptly shot heels over head backward into the water."
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