at sixes and sevens
idiom

- in a state of total confusion or disarray

- lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness

Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam Webster

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The phrase "at sixes and sevens" has a fascinating etymology with several competing origin stories:

The earliest recorded use of a similar phrase appears in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde" from the mid-1380s. Chaucer wrote "to set the world on six and seven", which in context seemed to mean "to hazard the world" or "to risk one's life".

The most widely accepted origin connects the phrase to a medieval dice game called hazard, where the expression was originally "to set on cinque and sice" (from the French numerals for five and six). These were apparently the most risky numbers to bet on, and anyone who tried for them was considered careless or confused. Over time, as people unfamiliar with French misheard the words, the numbers shifted to the English "six and seven".

This etymology is supported by the fact that French numbers (deuce, trey, cater, cinque, sice) were still being used for dice and cards when most counting was done in English.

In short, “at sixes and sevens” is a centuries-old idiom rooted in gambling, later shifting to today’s meaning to describe confusion or disorder.

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NUMERICALLY SPEAKING
Common english phrases which use numbers

- A stitch in time saves nine = fixing a small problem early prevents it from becoming a bigger one

- At the eleventh hour = at the last possible moment

- Back to square one = to be forced to start again from the beginning

- Catch 22 = a paradoxical situation from which there is no escape

- Deep six = to discard, get rid of, or abandon something completely

- Dressed to the nines = to be dressed very elegantly or elaborately

- Forty winks = a short nap

- Kill two birds with one stone = to accomplish two things with a single action

- Once in a blue moon = something that happens very rarely

- On cloud nine = to be extremely happy or satisfied

- Six of one, and half a dozen of the other = the two alternatives are equivalent or make no difference

- Two heads are better than one = collaboration leads to better results than working alone

- Two's company, three's a crowd = third person is unwelcome when two people want to be alone

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SYNONYMS

abashed, addled, addlepated, adrift, all over, all over the map (the place), astray, at a loss, at sea, AT SIXES AND SEVENS, awry, backwards and forwards, baffled, bedlamic, befuddled, bemused, bewildered, come apart, confused, confounded, dazed, deranged, disarrayed, disarranged, discombobulated, disoriented, disordered, disorganized, distraught, every which way, flummoxed, flustered, frazzled, frenzied, glassy-eyed, gone, harum-scarum, haywire, helter-skelter, higgledy-piggledy, in a blur (a fog, a jumble, a mess, a muddle, a shambles, chaos, confusion, disorder, disarray, in flux, knots, turmoil), jumbled, lawless, like a bomb's hit it, lost the plot, muddle-headed, muddled, nonplussed, not with it, off-kilter, out of control, out of it, out of kilter (of order, of step, of tune, of whack), pandemonium, pell-mell, perplexed, perturbed, punch-drunk, rattled, ruffled, scattered, scrambled, screwy, shaken, shambolic, spaced out, stumped, thrown (off balance), topsy-turvy, tousled, unbalanced, unglued, unhinged, unorganized, unzipped, upside-down, wobbly, woolly

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

“They’re AT SIXES AND SEVENS in the project meeting,… can you please help out?”

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THANKS to Florian for suggesting today’s OWAD.

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