/ahr"see vahr"see/ , Informal.
adj.
1. wrong end foremost; completely backward: an arsy-varsy way of doing things.
adv.
2. in a backward or thoroughly mixed-up fashion: The papers are all filed arsy-varsy. Also, arsyversy /ahr"see verr"see/ .
[ 1530-40; prob. alter. of L vice versa (see VICE VERSA), with ARSE substituted to make a facetious rhyming compound; for L versa > varsy, cf. ARGAL 3 ]