At Sixes and Sevens

By Simon

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

Confusion

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 there other phrases that associate particular numbers with confusion, disorder, chaos or other things?




Magic Machines

By Simon

What connects the words magic and machine? Let’s find out in this Omniglot blog post.

Magic Book

Magic [ˈmadʒɪk / ˈmædʒɪk] is the application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them. (Other meanings are available).

It comes from Middle English magik (magic, sorcery, magical), from Old French magique (magic, magical), from Latin magicus (magic, magical), from Ancient Greek μαγικός (magikós – magical, skilled in magic), from μάγος (mágos – magical), from Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐏁 (maguš⁠ – Mazdean priest), from Proto-Iranian *magúš, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *magʰúš, from *megʰ-ú-s, from *megʰ- (to be able)[source].

Related words include mago (magician, sorcerer) in Spanish, μάγος (magician, wizard, sorcerer) in Greek, magico (magic, enchanting) in Italian, and mage and magus in English [source].

In Old English, one word for magic, and also spell, charm or incantation, was ġealdor / galdor [ˈjæɑl.dor] (magic, sorcery, magical). This became galder (a type of pagan incantation, spell or charm) in modern English. It comes from Proto-West Germanic *galdr (singing, song, incantation), from Proto-Germanic *galdraz (singing, song, charm, incantation, spell), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (to call, chant, shout) [source].

Related words include galdur (magic, sorcery, witchcraft, a trick) in Icelandic, galder (sorcery, wizardry, spell, incantation) in Danish, hałas (noise, racket, din) in Polish, and possibly gale and yell in English [source].

machine

Machine [məˈʃi(ː)n] is a device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect. (Other meanings are available).

It comes from Middle French machine (machine, device), from Latin māchina (contrivance, siege engine, scaffold), from Doric Greek μαχανά (contrivance, machine, device), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (to be able) – the same root as magic [source].

Related words include mokër (millstone, boulder) in Albanian, მანქანა (mankana – machine, car) in Georgian, macina (millstone, quern) and macchina (machine, car) in Italian, máquina (machine) in Spanish, and machine (machine, device, engine) in French [source].




Polyglottery in Brno

By Simon

Last week I went to the Polyglot Gathering in Brno in the Czech Republic. This is the sixth Polyglot Gathering I’ve been to, though the first one in Brno and the first one for a few years. The last one I went to was in 2019 in Bratislava in Slovakia.

Polyglot Gathering 2026

This year’s Polyglot Gathering took place at Mendel University in Brno (Mendelova univerzita v Brně). There were 827 participants from 67 countries. Apart from English, the most spoken languages were German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Polish and Portuguese, and between us, we the participants speak or are learning 202 languages. Just over half the polyglots were there are under 45, and the rest, like me, are older.

Polyglot Gathering 2026

This was the largest language event I’ve been too, and was very well organized. There were talks about language-related topics; introductions to languages; language practice tables; workshops on stand-up comedy, dance, capoeira, juggling, etc; games, quizzes, karaoke, a talent show, a food fair, and tours of local attractions.

Brno
Freedom Square (Náměstí Svobody), Brno

I went to a few of the talks, and practised my Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese at the language practice tables. I also went on a tour of Brno, which was interesting, and to a quiz, a karaoke session, concerts and other activities. The rest of the time I was relaxing, chatting to various people, and teaching people to juggle, or helping them to improve their juggling (see below).

Juggling

The languages I spoke most, apart from English, were French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese, German, Welsh, Irish, Spanish and Esperanto. I also spoke (or at least tried to speak) some Czech, Slovak, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese and Taiwanese.

The 'dragon' of Brno
The Brno Dragon / Brněnský drak

For anybody interested in languages who wants to meet like-minded people, practice their languages, and have fun, I’d recommend events like this. The next one is the Polyglot Conference in Bologna in Italy in 18-20 November 2026. I haven’t decided if I’m going to go yet.




Fire Arrows

By Simon

The other day the word 火箭 (huǒ​jiàn) came up in my (Mandarin) Chinese lessons. It means rocket or literally “fire arrow”.

2207太空中心＿ARRC火箭專案＿屏東旭海

I knew that the first characters meant fire, but wasn’t sure about the second character. Once I knew that the word meant rocket, I guessed that the second character meant arrow or something similar. I was right.

One of the things I like about Chinese is that rather than borrowing words other languages, they often coin new words based on native roots, or borrow words from Japanese that are based on Chinese roots.

Other examples featuring the character 火 (huǒ​), which means fire, flame, burn, anger or rage, include:

  • 火车 [火車] (huǒ​chē) = train, (lit. “fire cart / vehicle”).
  • 火印 (huǒyìn) = brand, branded mark (lit. “fire seal”)
  • 火山 (huǒshān) = volcano (lit. “fire mountain” – should not be confused with a 山火 (shānhuǒ) = mountain fire, wildfire
  • 火筷子 (huǒkuàizi) = fire tongs, hair curling tongs (lit. “fire chopsticks”).
  • 火石 (huǒshí) = flint (lit. “fire stone”)
  • 火药 (huǒyào) = gunpowder (lit. “fire medicine”)
  • 火星 (huǒ​xīng) = (the planet) Mars, spark (lit. “fire star”) – not to be confused with 星火 (xīnghuǒ​) = spark, meteor.
  • 火星人 (huǒ​xīngrén) = Martian (lit. “fire star person”) – borrowed from Japanese 火星人 (kaseijin)
    [source]

The character 箭 (​jiàn) means arrow and appears in words like:

  • 射箭 (shèjiàn) = to shoot an arrow, to let loose an arrow; archery
  • 弓箭 (gōngjiàn) = bow and arrow
  • 弓箭手 (gōngjiànshǒu) = archer
  • 箭猪 [箭豬] (jiànzhū) = porcupine (lit. “arrow pig”).
  • 箭鱼 [箭魚] (jiànyú) = swordfish (lit. “arrow fish”).
    [source]




Ashen Hearted

By Simon

The word 灰心 (huī​xīn) came up in my Chinese lessons recenlty. It could be translated literally as ‘ashen heart’ or ‘heart of ash(es)’, but what does it actually mean?

Discouraged

灰心 (huī​xīn) means to lose heart, to be discouraged or to despair. 灰 (huī​) means ash(es), dust, lime or mortar, and 心 (​xīn) means heart, mind, intelligence or soul [source].

灰 can also mean grey/gray when combined with 色 (sè – colour), as in 灰色 (huī​sè), so I thought at first that 灰心 meant ‘grey heart’ [source].

Related phrases include 灰心喪氣 (huīxīnsàngqì), which means disheartened, discouraged, downhearted, downcast or in dispair, or literally “ash heart lose qi”, and 心灰 (xīnhuī), which means extremely disappointed or discouraged [source].

The character 心 (​xīn) also appears in phrases such as:

  • 开心 [開心] (kāixīn) = happy, delighted, to make fun of (sb), to open up the mind, to enlighten the mind, (lit. “open heart”).
  • 关心 [關心] (guānxīn) = to be concerned about, to care for, to put first, (lit. “closed heart”).
  • 担心 (dānxīn) = anxious, worried, uneasy, to worry, to be anxious (lit. “to carry (the) heart”).
  • 小心 (xiǎoxīn) = to be careful of something, to mind, to beware of, to take care, to be careful (lit. “small heart”).
  • 耐心 (nàixīn) = patient (lit. “to withstand (the) heart”).
  • 黑心 (hēi​xīn) = ruthless and lacking conscience (lit. “black heart(ed)”).
  • 好心 (hǎoxīn) = goodheartedness, kindness (lit. “good heart(ed)”) [source].