at sixes and sevens

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• Received-Pronunciation: /æt ˌsɪksɪz n̩ ˈsɛvn̩z/
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• General-American: /æt ˌsɪksɪz n̩ ˈsɛvənz/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɛvənz
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From earlier set all (and other forms) on six and seven, from Middle English setten al at (or setten the world on) sixe and sevene (“to risk everything, take a chance”), probably a variant—either an exaggeration or mishearing—of setten on cynk (“number or throw of five on a die”) and sys (“number or throw of six on a die”), referring to the two highest throws and thus the riskiest bets on the dice in dice games.

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Chinese Mandarin: 橫七豎八 /横七竖八 (héngqīshùbā) — in a state of confusion
• Chinese Mandarin: 混亂 /混乱 (hùnluàn) — in a state of confusion
• Chinese Mandarin: 亂七八糟 /乱七八糟 (luànqībāzāo) — in a state of confusion
• Danish: i vildrede — in a state of confusion
• Finnish: sekaisin — in a state of confusion
• Finnish: sikin sokin — in a state of confusion
• French: largué — in a state of confusion
• German: völlig durcheinander sein — in a state of confusion
• Italian: in disordine — in a state of confusion
• Polish: skonfundowany — in a state of confusion
• Russian: в беспоря́дке (v besporjádke) — in a state of confusion
• Russian: вверх дном (vverx dnom) — in a state of confusion
• Spanish: hecho un lío — in a state of confusion
• Chinese Mandarin: 不和 (bùhé) — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Chinese Mandarin: 吵架 (chǎojià) — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Chinese Mandarin: 針鋒相對 /针锋相对 (zhēnfēngxiāngduì) — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Finnish: napit vastakkain — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Finnish: riidoissa — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• French: ne pas être sur la même longueur d'onde — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• German: sich in den Haaren liegen — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• German: über Kreuz sein — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• German: völlig uneins sein — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Icelandic: elda grátt silfur — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Italian: in disaccordo — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Norwegian Bokmål: ikke være på samme bølgelengde — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Norwegian Bokmål: som hund og katt — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute
• Polish: w niezgodzie — of (groups of) people: in a state of disagreement or dispute