The phrase at sixes and sevens when in a state of confusion, or in a state of dispute or disagreement, at least in the UK, Ireland and Commonwealth countries.

It comes from the phrase on six and seven, from Middle English on sixe and sevene, the origins of which are not known. It may have come from the game of hazard and the Old French cinc (five) and sis (six), the riskiest numbers to shoot for, which were either misheard as “six” and “seven”, or increased by one each as a form of exaggeration [source].

Apparently in Australia, a state of confusion might be called all sixes and nines, the origins of which are not known [source].

In Chinese, certain numbers are also associated with disorder in the phrase 乱七八糟 [亂七八糟] (luànqībāzāo), which means chaotic, in disorder or muddled, or literally ‘confusion / state of chaos, seven, eight, dregs’ [source].

A similar phrase is 乌七八糟 [烏七八糟] (wūqībāzāo), which means everything in disorder, in a hideous mess, obscene, dirty or filthy. The first character 乌 [烏] (wū) means crow, rook, raven or black, and the other characters are the same [source].

There is also the phrase 七上八下 (qīshàngbāxià), which means at sixes and sevens, in a perturbed state of mind or in a mess, or literally “seven up eight down” [source].

In Hokkien or Southern Min, a phrase that associates seven and eight with confusion is 有七无八 [有七無八] (ǔ-chhit-bô-poeh), which means in a state of confusion, in a state of uncertainty, in a state of disorder, or in an awful mess, or literally ‘have seven not have eight’ [source].

The words seven and eight also appear in the Chinese idioms:

• 七嘴八舌 (qīzuǐbāshé), which means a discussion with everybody talking at once, or literally “seven mouths, eight tongues” [source].
• 七手八腳 (qīshǒubājiǎo), which means with many people lending a hand; chaotically, or literally “seven hands, eight feet” [source].
• 七零八落 (qīlíngbāluò), which means scattered here and there; in disorder; in confusion, or literally “seven zero, eight fall” [source].

There is also an idiom in Japanese – 七転び八起き (nana korobi ya oki) which means not giving up until succeeding, or the ups and downs of life, or literally “seven times falling down, eight times rising up” [source]. It has a short form: 七転八起 (shichiten hakki), which means life has its ups and downs, and is used an encouragement to keep going no matter how tough it is. Its literally meaning is “seven tumbles, eight stand ups” [source].

Are other phrases that associate particular numbers of confusion, disorder, chaos or other things?