Turning, Rolling, Spinning

This morning while reading the Star Tribune letters to the editor, I paused to appreciate the phrase "rolling in his grave," which was used to refer to John McCain's assumed assessment of the impeachment sham trial.

It's good to make note when we appreciate things, especially in our age of negativity, and I appreciate that descriptive phrase. English sure has some great phrases.

According to the Wikipedia and its sources, this usage began life as turn in the grave in 1801 and stayed that way for much of its existence. Rolling came into use some time in the mid-20th century, maybe around the time of the song "Rollover Beethoven." Spinning is even more recent, with its first documented use dating to the year 2000.

I think of these three versions as increasing levels of upset among the deceased assessors of our present maelstrom:

• turning is slightly upset at how things are going, since I think it's meant to mean turning over once
• rolling is definitely more upset, when used as "rolling in his grave" rather than "rolling over," which is equivalent to "turning over"
• spinning represents maximalist upset, indicates continuous motion, and builds hyperbole upon hyperbole. I do not accept it.

The exaggeration of the corpse reaction all the way to spinning is part and parcel of our culture's constant chasing of superlatives, I think. But I do prefer the idea of the corpse being in an ongoing state of disturbance, rather than just turning over once.


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