E.g. :). 'Topsy-turvy', as with similar phrases like ' upside-down ' and 'arse over tit', refers to the top and bottom being interchanged from their usual places. But the program that I question most is the annoyingly sweet and infuriatingly unrealistic Topsy & Tim and their Smug Face Mummy. To grow like Topsy is to grow “wild, with neither plan, structure, nor direction.” Incidentally, have you ever wondered if incidental remarks like the preceding ones are going to vanish into the Googlesphere? topsy-turvy meaning: 1. Our puppy has grown like Topsy since we switched to a new brand of dog food. This is the British English definition of grow to love / hate / understand etc something.View American English definition of grow to love / hate / understand etc something.. Change your default dictionary to American English. They at least make more sense than ' head over heels ', which appears similar also, until remembering that our heads are usually over our heels. Hope you don't mind but I referenced your blog on my blog:http://iandrewmartin.com/.Just seemed fitting for the piece I wrote today.Andrew MartinOld IT Guy. 5. Topsy was shut down in 2015, leaving a huge gap in the world of social media analytics. It certainly be required reading of all adults! To increase in amount or degree; intensify: The suspense grew. Mar 19 2003, 7:00 PM Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion House of Commons. Never heard the expression, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have made the connection. Soon "it growe'd like Topsy" had become a popular figure of speech to describe something that grew or increased by itself, without apparent design or divine intervention. How to use grow like a weed in a sentence. To rapidly grow or expand. : Le taux de chômage est bas, le dollar est fort et les excédents fédéraux augmentent sans cesse. To "Grow like Topsy" - Google Groups. Between this book and "To Kill A Mockingbird", I've read them both at least 10 times; classics never wear out their welcome. Behind the guise of clever instruction, all I did was report the results of a Google search on an unfamiliar phrase. We all want to be like them when we grow up. And I am not alone. The topsy-turvy doll, as it’s known, most likely originated in American plantation nurseries of the early 19th century. You know the ones – they’re the books […] With the record amount of rain that we've been having in Chicago, ALL the gardens we care for "grow'd like Topsy." The original expression is “just grew like Topsy,” referring to Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who “jes grew.”As the original referent of “Topsy” becomes less and less familiar, the term has been reanalyzed by some as “top seed,” which sounds like something that might grow quickly. It gets more like a bucket list of those 101 things to do before some significant age or date or whatever. Soon "it growed like Topsy" had become a popular figure of speech to describe something that grew or increased by itself, without apparent design or intention, and by 1885 Rudyard Kipling was explaining to a correspondent that "I have really embarked... on my novel.. Like Topsy 'it growed' while I wrote." ", “I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.” - Winnie the Pooh. After many contributions, our website has grown like Topsy, and is now being completely revised. 1    verb  When people, animals, and plants grow, they increase in size and change physically over a period of time. 4. My post The Top 5 Misdemeanors of Topsy and Tim remains one of my most popular posts to date. The subject could be a person or thing. Topsy (left) and Little Eva, characters from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851–52); lithograph by Louisa Corbaux, 1852. It was a shock for everyone at Social Media because Topsy was a referent. Serf's up. prior planning. Thank you. (in a state of being) confused, not well organized, or giving importance to unexpected things…. I use that phrase ALL THE TIME and was very aware of it's origins; it's nice of you to share your knowledge with others as to where it came from. To expand; gain: The business grew under new owners. People often mention Topsy when they are talking about something that seems to have grown quickly without being noticed. / / Bad News that Is Going to Be Really Good Economic News from Today’s Topsy Turvy Times As you try to find indicators of recovery in the financial chaos of this To increase in size by a natural process. It also has been receiving much love deserved like Topsy or not, if love can be expressed through dollars In the book Topsy just grew or according to Topsy herself, she just grow'd. <3I'm a landscaper so that is the reason why I use this phrase, in a positive manner, all the time. One of those books that had been on my "classics-to-read-some-time" list for three decades or so, before I finally got round to. When she is asked whether she knows who made her (that is, whether she has heard of … This phrase alludes to the little African-American slave girl in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s. I am glad that somebody has traced the origin of "grew like Topsy". This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. 'To grow like Topsy' means to grow quickly. Search to grow like topsy and thousands of other words in English definition and synonym dictionary from Reverso. Topsy name, name meaning and origin. I Googled and found your blog. We stop growing at maturity. For poor Miss Ophelia, already burdened with the care of a lot of little blacks, it was hard to understand why fate had brought this imp of darkness into her life. I knew it meant that something had grown LARGE but did not know that something grew without direction. ", My daughter Helen commented in November 2008 in her Blog that she was now keeping a notebook of new words that she came across during her reading. Senator Moseley-Braun notes with disapproval the majority leader's frequent use of the phrase ''grown like Topsy'' about the number of amendments added … Children, Schools and Families Committee, National curriculum: Oral and written evidence (page 232) Why has National Strategies been allowed to grow like Topsy in some respects, and at the same time become even more complex, making it difficult for teachers to take in the amount of guidance that they receive? "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is one of those books that few people of adult age have actually read but "think they know all about it", which they rarely do. If you’re like me, your to-do list seems to grow faster than you can ever hope to complete even a fraction of the items on it. : Comme toujours, le Parlement européen a tendance à gonfler, comme atteint d'éléphantiasis. 3. Learn more. To be capable of growth; thrive: a plant that grows in shade. ( 'Grow like Topsy' is a reference to a character in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' who says at one point, 'I spect I grow'd.') "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra. And for other tools it was like the older brother. I enjoy this word-blog of yours... Like you I often get curious about the origin of words and phrases! When Britt used the phrase in reference to the growth of the government of the USA under the current administration, it caught my ear. 'Our online business has grown like Topsy … -- correction, New York Times, Oct. 6 'Terrifying Numbers for Democrats' Long as you respect the property and don't make too much noise, why, I mind my business and 'spect you to mind yours. b. But I read the book not too long ago (last year or the year before). Find here Topsy name meaning, and origin. Grow like a weed definition is - to grow very quickly. To develop and reach maturity. 2009, Great Britain.Parliament. Thus, we could say "Usenet grew like Topsy", "The shantytown of Soweto, like all such settlements, grew like Topsy" and so on. Topsy connoting growing in an unplanned manner or growing rapidly. Topsy, fictional character, a slave child in the antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe. As William Safire observed in a 2007 On Language column, one-off meaning "something unique" is a British expression that has been creeping into American speech and writing in recent years. : Unemployment is low, the dollar is high, and federal surpluses grow like Topsy. the origin of it is a little girl called Topsy in a book called 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' written by Harriet Beecher-Stowe. But just about all the dictionaries I've looked at define "growing like Topsy" to have the simple meaning of accelerated growth. "O yes, mas'r," replied Topsy, with another twinkle. Feel we just "growed" like Topsy..."I am so grateful to see this website and be able to interrpret the letter's meaning. 'Topsy' is … Fences and gates give way to fields and enclosures for chickens, goats, geese and alpaca, meaning that Mary’s garden is a home yard indeed – if it extended any further most of it would end up as feed for the animals. :D. In a letter dated May 2nd, 1924 between two of my ancestors it reads:" Away so long from America, I've no idea where any of us were born. "Topsy, this is your new mistress," said Mr. St. Clare, solemnly. Turning to this week’s topic, it turns out that cybersecurity has been growing like Topsy in both ways. Our small company has grown like Topsy over the past year, thanks in no small part to our aggressive new marketing campaign. 'Those weeds in my garden are growing like Topsy!'. “But [Channel 4 is] also that uniquely British thing: a hodge podge that works, an institution you couldn’t invent because, somehow, it’s just grown. ing, grows v.intr. Our small company has grown like Topsy over the past year, thanks in no small part to our aggressive new marketing campaign. "That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. agreed Sian! 2. a. Girl name Topsy means. From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Top‧sy /ˈtɒpsi $ ˈtɑːp-/ a small African-American girl character in the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin(1851–52) by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I had never heard the phrase until this past Sunday on Fox News Sunday when Chris Wallace was interviewing Britt Hume, Chief Political Analyst for Fox News. Our puppy has grown like Topsy since we switched to a new brand of dog food. Definition of topsy-turvy from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio Wondering if the origin is a diminutive of topside-turvy. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content. See also: grow, like, Topsy https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/grow+like+Topsy, Grow very quickly. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. Definition and synonyms of grow to love / hate / understand etc something from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.. Thanks! “The securities lending business had grown like topsy without any proper supervision, ballooning to as much as $2 billion.” Ben Butler; Fast Cars, Big Houses, Hot Money; The Australian (Canberra); Sep 13, 2018. Mary Moody – growing like Topsy. Name That Thing. Today "grow like Topsy" is most often heard in criticism of bureaucratic institutions or government budgets, for whose bloated sprawl and inefficiency no one is eager to take credit. 11 Jul 2014 Name That Thing. TOPSY Meaning: "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), immortal in cliche for her response to a question about her origin put to… See definitions of topsy. Once the arms race began, it just grew, like Topsy. No. Just to be clear, we are not talking here about Topsy the elephant, sad story by the way. A celebratory collision of two persons’ open palms; the cooler, more hip term for high five. 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