In another thread I wondered where the term "nine ways from Sunday" came from. That made me curious, and I checked my word books, as well as World Wide Words and Word Detective, 2 of my favorite sites. I cannot find it. Does anyone have a clue?

Nobody knows here? I thought you were the best and the brightest!!!!

This seems to be a hard one to track down.

You appear not to be the only one searching. I've found the same question posed (but never answered) in lots of different places on the internet. There's a bit of a discussion here suggesting that the phrase goes back a long way and that there are lots of variants. (six, seven, nine, forty a hundred, athousand ways from, till or to Sunday among others.)

No actual answer though.

Quid quid latine dictum sit, altum viditur

Read all about my travels around the world here.

Well, Bob, I am even more perplexed because on that site (thanks for that link!) I saw everything but 9 ways from Sunday; yet that is the only way I have ever heard it. My curiosity has definitely been piqued! I just don't know where to go from here.....

Reviving a thread...

When I heard the phrase, "Nine ways from Sunday" used recently, I remembered this thread where we really didn't figure it out. I did find this site that gave some citations from Google books for the years 1700-1850. While we hear "six ways" and some other numbers, all the early citations were for "nine ways from Sunday." One of their hypotheses is: "Perhaps the 'compass that pointed nine ways from Sunday' hints to the origin -- you look at the needle of a compass that dances all over the place, and you make a little joke by giving a funny reading. Compare 'two hairs past a freckle' for a (non-existent) wristwatch." I guess they'd need a little more evidence for that explanation.

Do any of you know more?

"Nine ways from Sunday"

The OED2 online has the following entry under way:

quote:

II.9.c. Prov. to look nine ways, to look two ways for Sunday: to squint excessively. to go, look nine ways (at once, at thrice): expressing the indecision produced by terror or eagerness.

The first citation points to the entry for nine:

quote:

A.3.b. nine ways (at once): asquint, askew; in all directions. Now rare.

The earliest citation there is from "1542 N. UDALL tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes (1877) 203 Squyntyied he was, and looked nyne wayes."

That was far earlier, that's for sure.

That etymology is a new one for me. Much of what I've seen about that phrase is that the origin is unknown.