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Continuing with our discussion of the phrase "turn something on its
head", let me give a few examples culled from news reports. It's a good
idea to read the news for words and phrases and learn them in context.
Read widely, meet them often, and you'll find their meaning clear up
eventually. After reading these stories, I'm sure you'll be able to use
"turn something on its head" correctly and without fail.
1. Summer reappears to turn April on its head
This headline (Sydney
Morning Herald, April 19, 2005) talks about high, abnormal temperatures
for the month of April down under. Text follows:
April should mean cardigans and umbrellas, and weekends in the
mountains. But Sydney has turned autumn on its head, with grass fires and
near-record temperatures leaving us all confused - should we unearth the
woolies or reach for the sunscreen?
Yesterday's temperatures were scorching for Sydney in late April, with
the mercury peaking at 32.3 degrees on Observatory Hill at 3.09pm. This
was just short of the highest temperature for the latter half of April -
32.8 degrees, on April 20, 1922.
The average temperature for April is 23 degrees.
……
2. Can HP Successfully Turn IT on its Head?
This headline from a
story (enterpriseinnovator.com, November 17, 2006) about whether
Hewlett-Packard can succeed with its new, unconventional marketing
campaign. Text follows:
With the close of the Mercury acquisition, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has
launched a major new marketing campaign designed to convince customers and
partners that it can reinvent IT and business governance, portfolio
management and runtime operational efficiency.
Leading with an emphasis on "business outcomes", HP aims to convince
the market that the HP Software group can compete with the likes of IBM,
Microsoft and the open source community when it comes to defining,
developing, testing, launching and operating business applications and
end-to-end composite services.
The market is used to hearing about Mercury's Business Technology
Optimisation (BTO) solutions, which emphasize IT governance, portfolio
management and workflow management capabilities. Because HP's business
outcomes message goes beyond Mercury's BTO message, it requires a second
look to fully appreciate the depth and breadth of HP Software's
aspirations.
……
3. New Roman finds could turn history on its head
This headline from
a story (The Scotsman, June 25, 2005) discussing new archaeological
findings that dispute conventional history. Text follows:
"BRITAIN was home to Roman citizens some 50 years before the AD43
'invasion' date that generations of schoolchildren have been taught, new
research has revealed.
"The previously accepted version of the Roman invasion has its origins
in the work of ancient spin-doctors trying to boost the reputation of the
Emperor Claudius.
Archaeologists believe that a series of military artifacts unearthed in
Chichester, Sussex, and dated decades before the AD43 date will turn
conventional Roman history on its head.
The experts also believe that when the Romans arrived in Chichester
they were welcomed as liberators by ancient Britons who were delighted
when the 'invaders' overthrew a series of brutal tribal kings guilty of
terrorizing southern England.
The conventional story of the landing, at Richborough, Kent, in AD43,
of 40,000 Roman soldiers who then marched through the English countryside
conquering all before them, is being questioned by Dr David Rudkin, a
Roman expert, who led the research.
"It is like discovering that the Second World War started in 1938,"
said Dr Rudkin.
3. Fake trees turn Christmas on its head
This headline came from the
USA Today (usatoday.com, Posted 11/7/2005 9:29 PM). It was about shops
selling Christmas trees deliberated planted upside down.
Christmas trees upside down might look odd - they certainly are at odds
with orthodox Christmas traditions - but they are moving fast (read on):
Has your holiday imbibing gotten out of control so soon?
Maybe that Christmas tree you saw really is upside down. Upside-down
trees are, well, turning the upcoming holiday on its head.
Hammacher Schlemmer can't even keep its $599.95 pre-lit model in stock.
It's already sold out.
"We increased the amount we ordered from last year, but ended up
selling all of them already," says Joe Jamrosz of Hammacher Schlemmer.
Not to be left behind, Target has three such upside-down trees
($299.99-$499.99) on its website, touting their best attribute: "Leaves
more room on the floor for gifts!"
……
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