[John] Chrysostom saith, An Oath came in when Evils increased, when men appeared unfaithful, when all things became Topsy Turvy.

China, and Ganges, and Japan, / Are Words my Papa taught my Pen. He ſays, they're Countries to be found, / In a ſtrange World, below the Ground; / Where Folks with Feet erected treat, / And diſtant, downward hang their Head; / Fearleſs they topſy turvy run, / With naught beneath—but Skies and Sun.

The best-known examples of children’s nonsense language play, and their ‘topsy turvies’, or inversion of reality, are in Chukovsky, who asserts that such topsy turvies ‘strengthen (not weaken) the child’s awareness of reality’ ….

Mr. [George] Eliot's descriptions of scenery are perfect: … and so are his descriptions of children. … We forbear (though with regret) the introduction to our readers of Totty's bald doll, ignominously ‘topsy turvied’ by her insulting brother.

Being from a lower caste, she earns her meager livelihood by cleaning the stairs and guarding the locality (the conventional roles are topsy turvyed).

Topsy turvy

Meaning

Adv

Adj

Noun

Verb