Saturday, 22 February 2025 11:10 pm
At Sixes and Sevens
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deckardcanine“At sixes and sevens” refers to confusion.
It seems apropos that we’re not certain why.
The earliest version we know is from Chaucer.
The pluralized numbers arose by and by.
One theory’s quite simple: The numbers together
Evoke superstition regarding thirteen.
But why word the phrase in a roundabout fashion?
Were people too worried to say what they’d mean?
Two livery companies came to swap places
In order of precedence year after year:
The sixth and the seventh. Was this how it started?
Some say this was after the phrase first appeared.
Our best bet: A dice game called hazard involved
The most risk with a roll of a five or a six.
The English would garble the French cinque and sice
(As they spelled at the time), so the numbers got mixed.
It seems apropos that we’re not certain why.
The earliest version we know is from Chaucer.
The pluralized numbers arose by and by.
One theory’s quite simple: The numbers together
Evoke superstition regarding thirteen.
But why word the phrase in a roundabout fashion?
Were people too worried to say what they’d mean?
Two livery companies came to swap places
In order of precedence year after year:
The sixth and the seventh. Was this how it started?
Some say this was after the phrase first appeared.
Our best bet: A dice game called hazard involved
The most risk with a roll of a five or a six.
The English would garble the French cinque and sice
(As they spelled at the time), so the numbers got mixed.