海角大神

When I hear the phrase at loggerheads, I imagine two huge sea turtles nose to nose, each refusing to move.听

At sixes and sevens reminds me of an old math joke: Why did six run away from seven? Because seven ate nine!听

These two idioms, meaning 鈥渋n the midst of a strong disagreement,鈥� actually have nothing to do with either sea turtles or math jokes, though that would be fun. Linguists aren鈥檛 exactly sure how they originated but have some interesting theories. 听 听 听

Loggerhead was originally an insult, 鈥渁 thick-headed or stupid person,鈥� according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It was coined in the 16th century, around the same time and along the same lines as blockhead.听

It鈥檚 easy to interpret blockhead 鈥� it鈥檚 a person who is, metaphorically, 鈥渢hick as a block of wood鈥� 鈥� but what is a loggerhead? The OED explains that logger conveys 鈥渢he notion of something heavy and clumsy,鈥� such as a 鈥渂lock of wood fastened to the leg of a horse to prevent it straying.鈥� A loggerhead is thus as 鈥渢hick as a logger鈥� 鈥� a more confusing than hurtful epithet today. 听

A loggerhead was also a kind of long iron spoon with a large heavy bowl, used by sailors to melt tar to seal boats.听

It鈥檚 unclear how we got from loggerhead as either insult or spoon to our current sense of at loggerheads. Early examples have people 鈥渃oming鈥� or 鈥渇alling鈥� to loggerheads, as if blows are being exchanged. Perhaps, the OED speculates, people actually fought using the heavy spoons as weapons, and thus at loggerheads came to describe a state of intractable disagreement. 听

At sixes and sevens probably comes from medieval games of dice. According to the OED, a person who 鈥渟et at cinque and sice鈥� (the numbers 5 and 6 in French, in ye olde English spelling) was wagering money or property on rolls of the dice. When English number names were used, it became 鈥渟et on six and seven.鈥� It seems that the particular numbers didn鈥檛 matter 鈥� it was the wagering that was the issue. Renaissance texts recount instances of people who bet all they had and lost a house, their clothing, and so on. 听

Perhaps due to the disastrous consequences of betting in this way, at sixes and sevens came to mean 鈥渋n great disorder,鈥� as in 鈥渢he toddlers left the living room at sixes and sevens.鈥� More recently, it has morphed, like at loggerheads, into another way to say 鈥渁t odds, in disagreement.鈥� That is how it鈥檚 used in the song from the musical 鈥淓vita鈥� that鈥檚 been running through my head: 鈥渄ressed up to the nines / At sixes and sevens with you. ... Don鈥檛 cry for me, Argentina.鈥澨�