| 释义 |
ˈarsy-ˈversy, adv. and a. Obs. in polite use.
Also arse-, arsie-versie, arsee-versee, arsy-varsy, etc.
[f. arse n. + L. versus, pa. pple. of vertĕre to turn, assimilated to reduplicated compounds like hurly-burly, etc.]
A. adv. Backside foremost, upside-down, contrariwise; perversely, preposterously.
1539Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 62 Ye set the cart before the horse..cleane contrarily and arsy versy as they say. 1577Holinshed Chron. II. 26/2 The estate of that flourishing towne was turned arsie versie, topside the otherwaie. 1683E. Hooker Pref. Pordage's Myst. Div. 24 As if everi man went the wrong waie to work; All Arsi-varsi. 1721Bailey, Arsy-versy. 1855Whitby Gloss., Arsy-varsy, head over heels, vice-versa. 1881A. J. Duffield Don Quixote II. 360 You do not go enchanted, but only with your head turned arsie varsie. 1957S. Beckett All that Fall 29 Like Dante's damned, with their faces arsy-versy.
B. adj. Contrary, perverse, preposterous.
1659Brome Eng. Moor iii. ii, It is the Arsivarsiest Aufe that ever crept into the world. 1692Dunton Postboy Robb'd (1706) 173 Go to, let us not enter Rome, that is, not into a Discourse of Arsey-versey Love. |