Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—S

Sixes and Sevens

(All). Illassorted; not matched, higgledy-piggledy.

To be at sixes and sevens.
Spoken of things, it means in confusion; spoken of persons, it means in disagreement or hostility “Six, yea seven,” was a Hebrew phrase meaning an indefinite number, hence we read in Job (v. 19), “He [God] shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven,” etc. What is indefinite is confused. Our modern phrase would be five or six things here, and five or six things there, but nothing in proper order.

Old Odcombs odness makes not thee uneven,
Nor carelessly set all at six and seven.

Taylor: Workes, ii. 71 (1630).

Long and short sixes. Certain dip candles, common in the first half of the nineteenth century. Long sixes were those eight inches long, short sixes were thicker and about five inches long. Called sixes because six went to a pound.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Sixteen-string Jack
Six-Principle Baptists
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

More on Sixes and Sevens from Fact Monster:

  • baritone - baritone baritone or barytone, male voice, in a lighter and higher range than a bass but lower than ...
  • emu - emu emu or emeu, common name for a large, flightless bird of Australia, related to the cassowary ...
  • Sir Geofferey Wilkinson - Wilkinson, Sir Geofferey Wilkinson, Sir Geofferey, 1921–, English inorganic chemist. He ...
  • the Cloisters - Cloisters, the Cloisters, the, museum of medieval art, in Fort Tryon Park, New York City, ...
  • staff - staff staff, in musical notation, a set of horizontal lines upon and between which notes are ...

Related Content