Tail over teakettle, or ass (or arse) over teakettle

[momatu]

I saw this expression online when I was looking for British slang Harry might use in 1998, and I absolutely love it.  Does it fit with Harry and the time period, though?  For context, people crowded into a large stadium are pushing and shoving, craning forward for a better vew, and he thinks someone's going to pitch themselves over the railing.  I

Comments

[snapes_witch]

The only context that I've heard the phrase "head over heels" is "head over heels in love".

[momatu]

That would be the most common way I think it would be used, but I think it could be used for a literal fall too. Not for a serious fall where someone was actually injured, more like a joking or teasing way.

[tari_sue]

The only version of this I have ever heard is arse over tit

[momatu]

That's what I was familiar with too. Teakettle sounded funny I thought--which really didn't fit the scene I'm working on.

[syntinen_laulu]

I come from SE England: I would use 'arse over teakettle' or 'arse over tip' without hesitation to describe someone falling over in a head-over-heels way, e.g. slipping on ice or a banana skin. I'd certainly not use 'tail' for 'arse' (sounds American to me). I've never heard 'arse over apex', which sounds to me like an affectation, or 'arse over tit' which sounds like an effort to be extra crude.

However, it would certainly not occur to me to use any of these to describe someone falling head-first from a balcony or other high place. If "head-over-heels" wouldn't convey the motion you're describing, they are all inappropriate.

BTW, the point about the word teakettle is that the original meaning of the word kettle was a metal cooking vessel (which could be put directly over a flame) as opposed to a ceramic cooking pot (which couldn't). In medieval English it was what we'd probably describe as a cauldron, and the related German word Kessel still means just that. But through the centuries different kinds of kettles evolved for

[momatu]

Thanks for your reply. I decided against using any form of the expression because it just didn't read right in the scene. It's too heavy of a scene.

As an American, I definitley wouldn't say "head over tails." That might be what people say somewhere else in the country, though. To me, it sounds like you're flipping a coin--heads or tails. I'd say "head over heals." Really, though, if you actually think about the words, it doesn't make sense. Your head is always over your heals. If you've fallen, we should say "heals over head."