Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
arse about face en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not-comparable, slang) Placed or arranged the opposite way to the way it should be.
No wonder it doesn't look right mate, you've got the whole thing arse about face.
It’s absurd, topsy-turvy, arse-about-face. But shit, nonetheless, demands a reading, and vice versa.
2003, Ian Sansom, The Truth About Babies: From A-Z, Granta, →ISBN, page 256:Like we didn't move here for my job, we came here (for ...) to become a student and study for a degree and it's arse about face. We tend to do things in an arse-about-face way no matter how hard we try. And I, at the risk of being hopelessly inarticulate I like the arse about face-ness of the LETS system.
2006, Peter North, quoting an anonymous member of a local currency scheme, “Self-Analysis: Do Members see LETS as a Social Movement?”, in Alternative Currency Movements As A Challenge To Globalisation?: A Case Study of Manchester's Local Currency Networks, Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, Part II Manchester's Alternative Currency Networks, page 99:We've got it so arse about face in modern society.
2010, Sean Gallacher, The Eskimo, page 27:Someone blows a hole in the head of the owner a couple of places along the Gap and nobody seems to give a shit. Fucking arse about face this fucking place.
2004, Mick Lee, Scream If You Want To Go Faster, Authors On Line Ltd, →ISBN, page 78:
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(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not-comparable, slang) Arranged in a confused or haphazard way; muddled.
Use them to inpregnant^([sic]) a woman: muddle up past and future, in-breed across time-zones, turn the family tree into a tangled bush, roots and shoots all arse about face.
2006, Liz Jensen, Egg Dancing, page 212:
Forms
arse about face en · ADV
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not-comparable, slang) In a manner that is opposite to or the reverse of the way it should be, backwards.
‘Look, Mary. That chap is sitting arse about face. He's having a laugh. He can't be serious.’
‘Don't be so critical, George. More than likely it's his first time on a horse.’
2011, Russell Shaw, Easy: A Dogs Life, page 54:We've been looking at it arse about face.
2005, Sam Smith, The End of Science Fiction, page 179:What was it about Charlie Resnick that made him so special? With his shirt still crumpled from the wash and his tie knotted arse-about-face.
2011, John Harvey, Rough Treatment, page 31:
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(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not-comparable, slang) In a confused or haphazard manner.
Meanwhile the Law, as usual, tumbles arse about face: the killings multiply; the cops are clueless and duly arrest the wrong man.
2005, John Orr, Hitchcock and 20th Century Cinema, page 67:
Forms