cat in the pan

cat in the pan (UK, slang, obsolete)

1. A somersault.
2. (figurative) A reversal of position.
   • 1927, Songs of the Immortals, volume 1, page 33:

     When George in pudding-time came o'er, / And moderate men looked big, sir, / I turned a cat-in-the-pan once more, / And so became a Whig, sir; […]

3. A falsehood that is spread and attributed to another person.