Meaning
In a state of confusion, disorder, or disagreement. It can describe things being muddled or plans being chaotic, as well as people who are quarrelling or failing to agree. Chiefly British and somewhat informal. Informal and conversational; more common in British English than American English, where it can sound old-fashioned. Regional use: British English.
Origin
The earliest known citation is Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde' (c. 1374) in the form 'set on six and seven', meaning to hazard one's whole fortune carelessly, most likely from a dice game; the Oxford English Dictionary supports the theory that 'six and seven' is a corruption of the French 'cinque and six'. The transitional form 'at six and seven' appears in print in 1535, and the modern plural form 'at sixes and sevens' is first recorded in 1670 in an English translation of Leti's 'Il cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa'. A popular alternative story links the phrase to a 1515 dispute over precedence between two London livery companies, the Merchant Taylors and the Skinners, who agreed to alternate sixth and seventh place annually; since Chaucer's use predates that quarrel it cannot be the source, though the rivalry may have helped shift the meaning from reckless risk to disorder. A claimed biblical origin in Job 5:19 is generally judged a weak coincidence of numbers.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- at six and seven
- set on six and seven
- sixes and sevens
- to be at sixes and sevens with someone
Usage Examples
- The schedules were so changeable that the whole department was at sixes and sevens.
- The two ministries have been at sixes and sevens over funding for months.
- After the merger announcement, investors were left at sixes and sevens about the company's direction.