At Sixes and Sevens—— 混亂不堪

At Sixes and Sevens—— 混亂不堪

李啟文

AtSixesandSevens——混亂不堪

**astateofconfusion,disarray,ordisagreement

~~混亂不堪；亂七八糟；雜亂無章；七橫八豎

~~inamess;inconfusion;indisarray;inchaos

!!Thetermlikelyoriginatesfroma14th-centurydicegamecalled"hazard."TheFrenchterms"cinque"and"sice"(fiveandsix)weretheriskiestnumberstobeton,andplayerswhobetonthemwereconsideredconfusedanddisorganized.Overtime,"cinqueandsice"wasmisheardas"sixandseven."Chaucer(mid-1380s)wrote"tosettheworldonsixandseven"(toriskeverything),andShakespearelaterwroteinRichardII:"allisuneven,andeverythingisleftatsixandseven."

這個字很可能起源於十四世紀名為“險注骰戲”的擲骰遊戲。法語詞彙＂cinque＂和＂sice＂（意為五和六點）是最具風險的點數，押注這些點數的玩家被認為是混亂且毫無條理。隨着時間演變，＂cinqueandsice"被誤聽成"sixandseven"。喬叟（十四世紀八十年代中期）曾寫下"tosettheworldonsixandseven"（意為賭上一切），莎士比亞後來在《理查二世》中寫道：“全部都不對勁，萬事都亂了套。”

>>WithtwowarsinIranandUkrainestillongoing,globaldiplomacyisatsixesandsevens.

伊朗和烏克蘭兩場戰爭仍在持續，全球外交混亂不堪。

學勤教育中心英語專科導師李啟文教授