1790. D'Arbley, Diary (1876), iii. 240. All my workmen in the country are at sixes and sevens, and in want of my directions.
1809. Malkin, Gil Bias [Routledge], 432. The affairs of the treasurer . . . are all at sixes and sevens.
1816. Scott, Antiquary, xxii. All goes to sixes and sevens—an universal saturnalia seems to be proclaimed in my peaceful and orderly family.
Six of one and half a dozen of the other, phr. (common).—Much alike; not a pin to choose between them; 'never a barrel the better herring.'
SIX-AND-EIGHTPENCE, subs. phr.
(old).—1. A solicitor: see
Green-bag (Grose).
1756. Foote, Englishman Ret. from Paris. [An attorney is hailed as] Good SIX-AND-EIGHTPENCE.
2. (old).—See quot.
c.1696. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Six and eight-pence, the usual Fee given, to carry back the Body of the Executed Malefactor, to give it Christian Burial.
Six-and-tips, subs. phr. (Irish).—Whiskey
and small beer (Grose).
Sixer, subs. (thieves').—1. Six
months' hard labour. Also 2.
(prison) see quot. 1877.
1869. Temple Bar, xxvi. 75. The next bit I did was a sixer.
1877. Five Years' Penal Servitude, iii. 194. He keeps a sharp eye on that man to see he does not "filch" a sixer, as the six-ounce loaf, served with the dinner, is called.
1886-96. Marshall, Bleary Bill ['Pomes' 61]. I see what the upshot will be, Dear me! A sixer with H.A.R.D.
Six-footer, subs. phr. (colloquial).
A person six-feet (or more) in
height.
c.1886. Scientific American [Century]. The centenarian is a six-footer, chews tobacco, and loves a good story.
Sixpence. See Spit.
Sixpenny, subs. (Eton).—A playing
field.
1864. Eton School Days, vi. If you are not in sixpenny after twelve, I will do my best to give you a hiding wherever I meet you.
Adj. (old).—Cheap; mean; worthless: generic. Hence sixpenny strikers = petty foot-pads.
1598. Shakspeare, I Hen. IV., ii. 1, 82. I am joined with no foot-land rakers, no long-staff sixpenny strikers.
1605. London Prodigal, v. 1. I'll not let a sixpenny purse escape me.
c.1619. Massinger, &c., City Madam, iii. 1. I know them, swaggering, suburbian roarers, Sixpenny truckers.
Six-shooter, subs. phr. (common).
A six chambered revolver. Six-shooter
horse = a swift horse.
1887. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. A six-shooter horse is a heap better than a six-shooter gun in these cases.
1894. W. M. Baker, New Timothy, 177. 'The weapons of our warfare are not carnal'—bowie-knives, six-shooters, an' the like.
1900. Savage, Brought to Bay, viii. With a quiet smile, he loaded his six-shooter . . . 'for contingencies."
Sixty, subs, (common).—Generic
for magnitude.
1886. Household Words, 18 Sept., 415. "Like one o'clock," "Like winking," and "To go like sixty," all imply briskness and rapidity of motion.
SIXTY-PER-CENT, subs. phr. (old).—A
usurer: also cent-per-cent.
1616. Fletcher, Custom of the Country, ii. 3. There are few gallants . . . that would receive such favours from the devil, though he appeared like a broker, and demanded sixty i' th' hundred.
1853. Reade, Gold, i. 1. What you do on the sly, I do on the sly, old sixty per cent.
