What Does At Sixes And Sevens Mean?
The phrase’ sixes and sevens’ generally means confusion. The other meanings it suggests can be ill-assorted, higgledy-piggledy or not-matched. The phrase shows a state of a person when he is double minded over a decision or scattered or disoriented over confusing situations. The person who is at sixes or sevens is in disagreement or hostility. In Hebrew, the phrase ‘six , yea seven’ ( six and seven) meant an indefinite number. This phrase has its origin in Bible. It states, “He [God] shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in seven shall no evil touch thee”. This couplet does not convey a clear meaning. Geoffery Chaucer once used this phrase which said, “To set the world on six and seven”. The same phrase is said to have been originated from the French game called ‘hazard’. It was game of a dice required and the rules to win the game were complicated. The expression used was ‘to set at cinque and sice’. Cinque and sice are French numerals five and six which later were misinterpreted a
