I was thinking about the phrase ‘The pot calling the kettle black’. It comes from a time where cooking was done over open fires and cookware would become visibly ashy. (Fun fact: It first appears and was perhaps coined by Cervantes in Don Quixote!)
What are some other idioms that have lost their literal connection to time? What would be a good modern replacement?
Ass over tit, I have heard.
Which I expect ass over teakettle is actually a polite euphemism for
No it’s not a euphemism. It’s literally walking down the stairs with a teapot and falling and … Well
Arse over tit is in an identical British expression for the same thing
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ass_over_teakettle
It’s the same as ‘head over heels’ in that the bottom part of your body (your ass) and the top part of your body (your breast/chest) switch places.
I feel like we have to assume the description of how your body moves is the prime definition (head over heels, or any variation) and any substitution of words like ass over teakettle is a playful alteration which works and is understood primarily because people are familiar with the original and understand the alteration through context of use.