美国流行文化从A到Z——Head over heels
<p>谈过恋爱的人都知道“着迷”是怎样的感觉：时刻牵挂着心上人——走路想，吃饭想，上班想，下班想，连做梦也想，恨不得每分每秒都跟他/她一起度过。我们常用“神魂颠倒”来形容这种状态，用英语表达就是<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span>。</p><p>这是个高频短语，对英语为母语者来说再熟悉不过。可能正是因为这样，很少有人会去质疑它的合理性。其实，只要稍微分析一下，就可以发现用<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span>来表示“神魂颠倒”并不合辑。<span word="head">head</span>是头，<span word="heels">heels</span>是脚后跟。在正常状态下，头当然是在脚后跟的上面，所以<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span>并没有“颠倒”的成分。<span word="heels">heels</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="head">head</span>(脚后跟在头上面)才是真正的“颠倒”。</p><p>事实上，这个短语最早出现在14世纪的时候，的确是<span word="heelsover">heelsover</span> <span word="head">head</span>。它在18世纪末期才出现了<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span>这个“错位”的版本，而且原因相当不可思议：当时的数名作家出现了一系列把<span word="heels">heels</span>和<span word="head">head</span>对调位置的笔误。</p><p>由于这个笔误出现的次数足够多，人们以为<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span>也是正确的表达方式(英语里有不少交换词序不影响意思的例子，比如<span word="what">what</span> <span word="goes">goes</span> <span word="around">around</span> <span word="comes">comes</span> <span word="around">around</span>= <span word="what">what</span> <span word="comes">comes</span> <span word="around">around</span> <span word="goes">goes</span> <span word="around">around</span>)，于是，这个“错位”的版本误打误撞地流传开来。</p><p>整个1 9世纪，<span word="heels">heels</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="head">head</span>和<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span> -直处在并存的状态。到了20世纪初，<span word="head">head</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="heels">heels</span>开始占据上风，成为“神魂颠倒”的第一选择，而<span word="heels">heels</span> <span word="over">over</span> <span word="head">head</span>则在真正描述头脚颠倒</p>
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