Today's BWOTD is a very commonly used expression back home.
"Everything's just been all at sixes and sevens today!"
'Sixes and Sevens' = a bit crazy
I have absolutely no idea where this comes from, but you hear it alot!
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Thanks for sharing that one. I've heard that in BBC shows and wasn't quite sure what it meant, although I deduced a meaning similar to what you shared.
Okay, this made me curious, so I had to go look it up some .... here's what I found:
At sixes and sevens Meaning: A state of total confusion and disorder, or of disagreement between parties.
Origin: The derivation of this phrase is rather difficult to trace, not least because it has changed in both form and meaning over the nine centuries or so that it has been in use. The phrase was originally to set on six and seven and is thought to have derived in the 14th century from the game of dice. The meaning then was to carelessly risk one's entire fortune. The earliest citation in print is Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, 1374:
"Lat nat this wrechched wo thyn herte gnawe, But manly set the world on sexe and seuene."
Six and seven is probably a corruption of cinque and sice, which is the French for the numerals five and six. Some may feel that this is a step too far, and the theory does set the folk-etymology antennae twitching. The OED supports the idea though, which will be good enough authority for most people.
If things had stayed that way the origin of the phrase would be fairly cut and dried and there would be little more to say. As we know though, it is now given as at sixes and sevens, having mutated via at six and seven, and the current meaning refers to a state of confusion, disorder or disagreement, not one of risk.
There's no question of these different versions arising independently, the movement from one to another was gradual and they overlap each other in time. The first appearance in print of at six and seven is in 1535 and the last citation of on six and seven in 1601. The first appearance of at sixes and sevens was in 1670, in Leti's Il cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa, translated, or as the subtitle of the work helpfully notes, 'faithfully Englished' by G. H., 1670:
"They leave things at sixes and sevens."
There are two other stories that contend for the honour of being the source of this phrase (or one of the versions of it at least). One is the biblical text - Job 5:19 (King James Version):
"He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee."
Other than being old and including the numbers six and seven, this doesn't seem to make a very strong claim. Chaucer would though have been familiar with earlier versions of this Bible story in Latin.
The other is an appealing tale. The mediaeval Livery Companies that were established in London include The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors (Tailors) and The Worshipful Company of Skinners (Fur Traders). The precedence of the companies was set in 1515, but these two companies disputed their positions and a compromise was agreed by which they exchange sixth and seventh place each year, at Easter.
Given that the Chaucer quotation is earlier, the Livery Company story can't be the source of set on six and seven. It is quite possible though that, having that existing phrase, the coincidence of the dispute being between the sixth and seventh places caused the migration in meaning. If that is in fact what happened then it could be argued that this is how the present day phrase originated.
Wow Pam WTG you! Very interesting and also the fact that the definition is slightly different too! Although they are actually pretty much the same, as I have used this phrase for both a bit crazy and total confusion.
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing that one. I've heard that in BBC shows and wasn't quite sure what it meant, although I deduced a meaning similar to what you shared.
Okay, this made me curious, so I had to go look it up some .... here's what I found:
At sixes and sevens
Meaning: A state of total confusion and disorder, or of disagreement between parties.
Origin: The derivation of this phrase is rather difficult to trace, not least because it has changed in both form and meaning over the nine centuries or so that it has been in use. The phrase was originally to set on six and seven and is thought to have derived in the 14th century from the game of dice. The meaning then was to carelessly risk one's entire fortune. The earliest citation in print is Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, 1374:
"Lat nat this wrechched wo thyn herte gnawe, But manly set the world on sexe and seuene."
Six and seven is probably a corruption of cinque and sice, which is the French for the numerals five and six. Some may feel that this is a step too far, and the theory does set the folk-etymology antennae twitching. The OED supports the idea though, which will be good enough authority for most people.
If things had stayed that way the origin of the phrase would be fairly cut and dried and there would be little more to say. As we know though, it is now given as at sixes and sevens, having mutated via at six and seven, and the current meaning refers to a state of confusion, disorder or disagreement, not one of risk.
There's no question of these different versions arising independently, the movement from one to another was gradual and they overlap each other in time. The first appearance in print of at six and seven is in 1535 and the last citation of on six and seven in 1601. The first appearance of at sixes and sevens was in 1670, in Leti's Il cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa, translated, or as the subtitle of the work helpfully notes, 'faithfully Englished' by G. H., 1670:
"They leave things at sixes and sevens."
There are two other stories that contend for the honour of being the source of this phrase (or one of the versions of it at least). One is the biblical text - Job 5:19 (King James Version):
"He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee."
Other than being old and including the numbers six and seven, this doesn't seem to make a very strong claim. Chaucer would though have been familiar with earlier versions of this Bible story in Latin.
The other is an appealing tale. The mediaeval Livery Companies that were established in London include The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors (Tailors) and The Worshipful Company of Skinners (Fur Traders). The precedence of the companies was set in 1515, but these two companies disputed their positions and a compromise was agreed by which they exchange sixth and seventh place each year, at Easter.
Given that the Chaucer quotation is earlier, the Livery Company story can't be the source of set on six and seven. It is quite possible though that, having that existing phrase, the coincidence of the dispute being between the sixth and seventh places caused the migration in meaning. If that is in fact what happened then it could be argued that this is how the present day phrase originated.
Wow Pam WTG you! Very interesting and also the fact that the definition is slightly different too! Although they are actually pretty much the same, as I have used this phrase for both a bit crazy and total confusion.
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