Head Over Heels

A rare idiom that used to make more literal sense than it does now. It began in the 1300s as "heels over head," a straightforward description of being upside down, and stayed in that more logical order for centuries. The reversed "head over heels" only appears from 1726, during the Georgian era, and somehow became the standard form despite describing our normal, right-way-up posture rather than being upside down. The romantic sense, tumbling recklessly into love, is documented from a 1711 English translation of the ancient Greek writer Lucian.