Our small company has grown like Topsy over the past year, thanks in no small part to our aggressive new marketing campaign. 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. When she is asked whether she knows who made her (that is, whether she has heard of … You know the ones – they’re the books […] We stop growing at maturity. Learn more. See also: grow, like, Topsy When Britt used the phrase in reference to the growth of the government of the USA under the current administration, it caught my ear. topsy-turvy meaning: 1. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. Surely not a reference to bureaucracies. In the book Topsy just grew or according to Topsy herself, she just grow'd. "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. Never heard the expression, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have made the connection. ", “I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.” - Winnie the Pooh. Thanks! This phrase alludes to the little African-American slave girl in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s. ", 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. My Father just used the phrase, so I was pleased to find it here and I knew what he was implying!! b. 'Topsy' is … Topsy, fictional character, a slave child in the antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Thank you. 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? Just to be clear, we are not talking here about Topsy the elephant, sad story by the way. Our puppy has grown like Topsy since we switched to a new brand of dog food. It was a shock for everyone at Social Media because Topsy was a referent. They at least make more sense than ' head over heels ', which appears similar also, until remembering that our heads are usually over our heels. Translation for 'Topsy' in the free English-Swedish dictionary and many other Swedish translations. -- 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. To be capable of growth; thrive: a plant that grows in shade. Thus, we could say "Usenet grew like Topsy", "The shantytown of Soweto, like all such settlements, grew like Topsy" and so on. It gets more like a bucket list of those 101 things to do before some significant age or date or whatever. I Googled and found your blog. "O yes, mas'r," replied Topsy, with another twinkle. 'Those weeds in my garden are growing like Topsy!'. People often mention Topsy when they are talking about something that seems to have grown quickly without being noticed. To develop and reach maturity. The topsy-turvy doll, as it’s known, most likely originated in American plantation nurseries of the early 19th century. The subject could be a person or thing. House of Commons. Serf's up. But just about all the dictionaries I've looked at define "growing like Topsy" to have the simple meaning of accelerated growth. Feel we just "growed" like Topsy..."I am so grateful to see this website and be able to interrpret the letter's meaning. To increase in size by a natural process. Search to grow like topsy and thousands of other words in English definition and synonym dictionary from Reverso. To "Grow like Topsy" - Google Groups. Topsy name, name meaning and origin. Thanks! the origin of it is a little girl called Topsy in a book called 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' written by Harriet Beecher-Stowe. After many contributions, our website has grown like Topsy, and is now being completely revised. Find here Topsy name meaning, and origin. 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. / / 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 Definition and synonyms of grow to love / hate / understand etc something from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.. : Le taux de chômage est bas, le dollar est fort et les excédents fédéraux augmentent sans cesse. 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. "That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. (in a state of being) confused, not well organized, or giving importance to unexpected things…. And I am not alone. :). Behind the guise of clever instruction, all I did was report the results of a Google search on an unfamiliar phrase. To rapidly grow or expand. 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. 4. https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/grow+like+Topsy, Grow very quickly. Definition of topsy-turvy from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio Wondering if the origin is a diminutive of topside-turvy. With the record amount of rain that we've been having in Chicago, ALL the gardens we care for "grow'd like Topsy." Once the arms race began, it just grew, like Topsy. Mar 19 2003, 7:00 PM Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion Topsy was shut down in 2015, leaving a huge gap in the world of social media analytics. Our small company has grown like Topsy over the past year, thanks in no small part to our aggressive new marketing campaign. 2. a. How to use grow like a weed in a sentence. 3. “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. Topsy (left) and Little Eva, characters from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851–52); lithograph by Louisa Corbaux, 1852. <3I'm a landscaper so that is the reason why I use this phrase, in a positive manner, all the time. I enjoy this word-blog of yours... Like you I often get curious about the origin of words and phrases! 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. Turning to this week’s topic, it turns out that cybersecurity has been growing like Topsy in both ways. 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. No. There's nothing like knowing theorigin and proper meaning of the phrases one hears. ( 'Grow like Topsy' is a reference to a character in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' who says at one point, 'I spect I grow'd.') As always, the European Parliament's tendency to grow like Topsy enters the picture. Topsy connoting growing in an unplanned manner or growing rapidly. Our puppy has grown like Topsy since we switched to a new brand of dog food. 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. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content. 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. 'Our online business has grown like Topsy … 'To grow like Topsy' means to grow quickly. 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. It is most commonly used by intellectuals, scholars, or just general cool people. It certainly be required reading of all adults! : Comme toujours, le Parlement européen a tendance à gonfler, comme atteint d'éléphantiasis. To increase in amount or degree; intensify: The suspense grew. Girl name Topsy means. 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? 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