Why do they call it "head over heels in love" If our head is always over our heels?
by 
anonymous
ANSWERS: 5
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Because when my heels are over my head I'm doing something else. Oh wait... ...never mind. This isn't the adult section.
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Oh ! You know - lol + up
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The saying is originally from the 14 th century and it was stated "heels over head". It meant to be upside down, or, as to turn heels over head, to turn a somersault. But then towards the end of the 18th century it got turned around. And stayed turned around by several writers who apparently weren't paying attention to what they were writing. Davy Crockett wrote in 1834: “I soon found myself head over heels in love with this girl”. I think it's like today's best example whne people say "I could care less", when it should be "I couldn't care less".
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It is possible to be heels over head in love, don't you think?
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Head over heels - literally, it means heels overtaking head not allowing much thinking, or head is not able to overtake heels (in some situations). The expression is connected with the command ability of 'head' over 'heels'. adv. In disorderly haste; "we ran head over heels toward the shelter" http://ultralingua.com/onlinedictionary/index.html?service=ee&text=head+over+heels It is connected with 'fight or flight mechnism' in the body. Let us consider a case that a man is walking through a forest at dawn. Some thing has fallen down from a nearby tree. Survival of the body is more important to this mechanism than display of valour. It decides whether it is possible to fight or should the person take to his feet to save himself. The decision to be taken should be a split-second type because survival of the very self involved. The fight-or-flight response, also called the acute stress response, was first described by Walter Cannon in 1927. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal for fighting or fleeing. This response was later recognized as the first stage of a general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms. http://www.answers.com/fight%20or%20flight 1 a : in or as if in a somersault : HELTER-SKELTER b : UPSIDE DOWN 2 : very much : DEEPLY <head over heels in love> http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=head+over+heels 'Head over heels' is now most often used as part of 'head over heels in love'. When first coined it wasn't used that way though and referred exclusively to being temporarily the wrong way up. It is one of many similar phrases that we use to describe things that are not in their usual state - 'upside-down', 'topsy-turvy', 'topple up tail', 'arse over tea-kettle', 'bass-ackwards' etc. Herbert Lawrence's Contemplative Man, 1771 is the first known citation of 'head over heels': "He gave [him] such a violent involuntary kick in the Face, as drove him Head over Heels." The first mention of love comes in 1834, by which time the phrase had crossed the Atlantic, and into David Crockett's Narrative of the life of David Crockett: "I soon found myself head over heels in love with this girl." Note: Non-American readers might not realize that Davy Crockett was a real person. Certainly in the UK he has the semi-mythic status of characters like Robin Hood and William Tell. Crockett is best known here by the old joke: "Did you know Davy Crockett had three ears? A left ear, a right ear and a wild frontier." 'Head over heels' is a good example of how language can communicate meaning even when it makes no literal sense. After all, our head is normally over our heels. The phrase originated in the 14th century as 'heels over head', meaning doing a cartwheel or somersault. This appeared later in Thomas Carlyle's History of Frederick the Great, 1864: "A total circumgyration, summerset, or tumble heels-over-head in the Political relations of Europe." Another note: Carlyle's spelling of summerset for somersault. John Lennon reinvented that in 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite' - "Ten somersets he'll undertake on solid ground." 'Head over heels' isn't alone - many everyday idioms make no literal sense. Another nice example is 'putting your best foot forward'. Anyone trying that should arrange to have at least three legs. We humans should limit our efforts to 'putting our better foot forward', unless we want to end up 'heels over head'. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/head-over-heels.html
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