keel right over

Faint or fall down, physically or metaphorically

I would interpret it to mean a sudden collapse, such as might occur for some medical reason such as fainting. It could indicate that the person died on the spot, but I don't agree that death is required.

Blue JayI don't agree that death is required.

(Sorry—I deleted the post that demanded death.)

Suppose you were at a family get-together and your dad collapses in the bathroom. While someone tries to revive him - he's obviously just fainted - you go into the living room and say: "Dad just keeled over in the bathroom." This would be interpreted as meaning he collapsed and died, and would shock everyone. The phrase is so strongly associated with sudden collapse and death that it is not u

Anonymousit is not used in any other sense for fear of being misunderstood.

Not at all. From AmE texts:

We almost keeled over when we saw the price on this.
I turned around and clocked him one, right in the nose, and he keeled over like a cut tree.
I could've keeled over when Madame Otis went to her knees beside Mira and began

AnonymousThe phrase is so strongly associated with sudden collapse and death that it is not used in any other sense for fear of being misunderstood.

This is news to me. I have never associated "keel over" with death. If death is involved, I fully expect to hear it explicitly, thus, He keeled over and died. (AmE)

CJ