hurly-burly
/ˈhəːlɪbəːli
/noun [mass noun]
Busy, boisterous activity: the hurly-burly of school life...
- However, I must confess that with age has come a certain distaste for the noise, the crowds and the whole hurly-burly of mass protest.
- Despite all the pomp and circumstance, political hurly-burly raised its head at yesterday's festivities.
- Anyway, Gus was so exquisite he used not to take part in the rough hurly-burly of football matches, but would remain aloof in perfectly clean kit.
Synonyms
bustle, hustle, commotion, hubbub, confusion, chaos, disorder, fuss, turmoil, uproar, tumult, turbulence, pandemonium, mayhem, bedlam, furore, brouhaha;
upheaval, unrest, disruption, trouble, agitation
informal hoo-ha, hullabaloo, ballyhoo, rumpus
British informal kerfuffle
Origin
Middle English: reduplication based on hurl.
topsy-turvy from early 16th century:
Things have been topsy-turvy since at least 1528. The term is probably based on top and turve, an old word meaning ‘to topple over, overturn’; the extra -ys are similar to those in hurly-burly (M16th from ‘hurling’ meaning ‘commotion’) and arsy-versy (also M16th, from arse and Latin versus, ‘turned’).