at sixes and sevens
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Unknown, though it may have originated from the game of hazard and the Old French cinc (“five”) and sis (“six”), the riskiest numbers to shoot for, which were misheard and folk-etymologized into English as "six" and "seven".
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Prepositional phrase[edit]
- (idiomatic) In a state of confusion.
- Synonym: all sixes and nines
- 1912, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 23, in Poison Island:
- Oh, what a racket! And everything on deck apparently at sixes and sevens. Mail-bags and passengers mixed up in every direction.
- (idiomatic, of people or groups) In a state of dispute or disagreement.
- Synonym: at loggerheads
- 1911, Jack London, chapter 6, in Adventure:
- Her outlook on life was so different from what he conceived a woman's outlook should be, that he was more often than not at sixes and sevens with her.
- 1976, Tim Rice, Don't Cry For Me Argentina:
- All you will see is a girl you once knew, although she's dressed up to the nines, at sixes and sevens with you.
Translations[edit]
in a state of confusion
|
in a state of dispute or disagreement
|
References[edit]
- “at sixes and sevens”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Michael Quinion (2004) “At sixes and sevens”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.