"Once, twice, thrice,...", what comes next?

Question

How would you complete the following sequence, until point 10?

Once
Twice
Thrice
(...)

Any help would be appreciated.

Thrice is a little old-fashioned (in BrE). Most people in the UK say "three times". — Mick, Dec 29 '16 at 10:26
@Mick - Same in the US, I think. It was a little surprising, but I've used thrice a couple times and the person I was speaking with or writing to was unfamiliar with the word. — J.R., Dec 29 '16 at 10:31
@J.R. Some of my friends use it, but then we're all old codgers. :-] — Mick, Dec 29 '16 at 10:32
Thrice now seems to be more common in Indian English than in British or American. — alephzero, Dec 29 '16 at 11:44
EL&U related question: I've said it once, I've said it twice, I've said it a thousand times — Mari-Lou A, Dec 29 '16 at 13:24
Nothing comes after thrice. There are no other English words in the series. — P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica, Jul 25 '17 at 20:15
If you don't care whether it is a real word, then you can just use "frice" or "fourice" to weird people out. — Victor, Apr 14 '21 at 08:27

3N1GM4 · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-19T10:03:42.937

80

As others have stated in the comments, you would continue like this:

Once
Twice / a couple of times / two times
Thrice / three times
Four times
Five times
Six times
Seven times
Eight times
Nine times
Ten times

Note: "a couple" doesn't always mean exactly two, although it often does.

As mentioned by Mick in the comments, thrice is quite old fashioned and while most people in the UK would understand, it's not commonly used.

You might also reference the fact that 12 is also known as a dozen (and therefore 6 is half a dozen):

6 times = Half a dozen times (or "a half dozen times" in the US sometimes)
12 times = A dozen times

There are also some other ways to reference numbers of "things" which don't really apply or work in the "times" example (some of which are a little archaic and more likely to be seen in literature or poetry than in everyday conversational speech/writing):

2 ants -> a pair/duo of ants
3 mice -> a trio/trinity of mice
4 cats -> a quartet of cats
5 dogs -> a quintet of dogs
20 birds -> a score of birds
144 eggs -> a gross of eggs (more often called 12 dozen eggs)

In the UK, we also have some slang for certain amounts of money:

£5 = a fiver
£10 = a tenner
£20 = a score (like above)
£25 = a pony
£500 = a monkey
£1000 = a grand (also used in the US)

There are a load more which originated in cockney rhyming slang, but those above are the most common.

Anyway, I've gone quite a bit off-topic there, but hopefully answered your question and gave you a little additional insight as well.

edited Aug 19 '22 at 10:03

answered Dec 29 '16 at 10:43

3N1GM4

1,643
9
13

9

I've never heard anyone seriously say "a score", "a pony", or "a monkey" when referring to quantities of money. While those are slang terms that are likely used in some areas they're far from universal in the UK! Fiver and tenner, or the other hand, I'd say are very common. In your animals example, I'd say only "pair" and to a lesser extent "trio" I would expect to hear; the others would sound (to me) archaic, poetic, or perhaps sensible only in some contexts (eg of a string quartet). – Muzer Dec 29 '16 at 11:29
@Muzer fair enough, depending on where you live in the UK, cockney rhyming slang and terms derived from it may not be particularly common. I've always lived in the South, so I have heard these terms relatively frequently (and in TV and movies - try Lock Stock or Snatch - or any Guy Ritchie movie to be honest - if you'd like some examples). :) – 3N1GM4 Dec 29 '16 at 11:33
@3N1GM4 I've lived in the south for most of my life too, but I expect Hampshire is just a bit too far from East London for this to me a thing for me... either that or I just haven't been watching the right TV! – Muzer Dec 29 '16 at 12:00
@Muzer I was born and raised in Hampshire, so maybe I just watched more cockney gangster movies than you when I was growing up. :) – 3N1GM4 Dec 29 '16 at 13:23
16

The answer to the original question is good. But the additional info is spurious and questionable. Sorry. I've never come across "a trinity" except in Church, and "a trio" is quite unusual too. Most people would just say 'three'. I've also never heard "quartet" or "quintet" used outside of the music world. Definitely not for cats and dogs. "Score" meaning 20 is correct but archaic; nobody uses it now. "Pony" and "Monkey" are cockney slang and would only apply to money; I've never heard either in actual use either. – Simba Dec 29 '16 at 13:24
@Simba I've certainly heard trio many times, for example a "trio of mini desserts" in a restaurant I went to recently. I agree that some of the others are rarely used in everyday conversation and are more likely to be seen in literature, poetry or other art, as I have stated. As the additional information is included after directly answering the original question, does it harm my answer? I feel that removing it would not make the answer better, unless somehow brevity is desirable in an answer, at the expense of tangential (and potentially interesting) additional information. – 3N1GM4 Dec 29 '16 at 13:28
2

@3N1GM4 I'm not a regular user here, so I can't say whether its helpful or harmful for an answer to have additional info. What I would say here is that some of it is quite a long way removed from the original question, so it's not really particularly relevant. But the answer has been accepted so the OP obviously found it useful, which is ultimately the objective on a Q&A site, so I guess it's fine. :) – Simba Dec 29 '16 at 13:36
One other thing: Since you mentioned a couple and a dozen/half-dozen it's worth noting that in the same vein, "a lone" = "one", "a few" = "three" and "a handful" = "five". They are quite deliberately vague; if you want to to be specific about the number, you'd say "five", not "a handful"; but I mention them because the fit in with the other words you already mentioned. – Simba Dec 29 '16 at 13:42
3

@Simba "A couple", "a dozen" etc. are actually quite specific in many (most?) contexts, whereas "a few" and "a handful" are most definitely not. When used unqualified I'd often expect the former to mean the exact values, but not the latter. – Muzer Dec 29 '16 at 13:53
@Simba as per Muzer's comment, I deliberately avoided any examples which were not specific to one single numeric value (like "a few" or "a handful" as you mention). Even for me, that seemed too far off topic. :) – 3N1GM4 Dec 29 '16 at 14:06
A fiver and tenner are also used pretty commonly in the US to refer, respectively, to a $5 and $10 bill. – 1006a Dec 29 '16 at 16:35
3

@Muzer "A couple", in my experience, is usually not so specific. If I asked somebody "How many things are there?" and they said "A couple", I'd interpret that to mean "I think there were two but I'm not absolutely certain; there might have been one or three." If they said "Two", I'd interpret that to be mean exactly two, with a good deal of certainty. On the other hand, I'd interpret "a dozen" to mean "twelve". – David Richerby Dec 29 '16 at 22:27
@Muzer it is used in the world of finance, specifically futures trading amongst futures traders. – noɥʇʎԀʎzɐɹƆ Dec 30 '16 at 18:58
2

"a couple of times" is more ambiguous than that. Not citing it as a source, but the XKCD link gets it right and is obligatory. ;) – jpmc26 Dec 31 '16 at 10:28
I've heard pony and monkey on Minder (I live in Australia). However, I've heard that not all Cockney slang used in Minder is genuine. – CJ Dennis Jan 02 '17 at 23:12
The only time Americans recognise "a score" as meaning 20 is in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, about 150 years ago (7.5 score)! It's uncommon in the US, but more advanced/historically-minded speakers can understand it to mean 20. – user45266 Feb 12 '19 at 07:27
A score is commonly used in the UK (especially in the South East) to mean £20. – 3N1GM4 Mar 04 '19 at 23:00
Thrice is really old fashioned. – May 31 '22 at 11:08
@Eden0516 - Yep, that's why it's specifically mentioned in the answer as being old fashioned. – 3N1GM4 May 31 '22 at 15:30

score 40 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 18 '23 at 12:39

40

once
twice
thrice

and then there were none

edited Aug 18 '23 at 12:39

user135438

103
2

answered Dec 29 '16 at 10:48

Peter

66,233
6
65
125

1

Also http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/6798/is-there-a-word-for-four-times-as-much-analogous-to-once-twice-and-thrice – Andrew Dec 29 '16 at 17:01

Writhe · Answer 3 · 2016-12-30T17:17:51.127

18

Anyone who plays DROD knows it's:

Thrice
Quarce
Quince
Sence
Septence
Octence
Novence
Tonce

Edit: Just to clarify, these are - indeed - protologisms. In DROD, they're used to indicate room coordinates (for comedic effect, instead of common notation), e.g. "Twice North, Septence West".

Sorry for the confusion - I should've mentioned it's not standard language.

edited Dec 30 '16 at 17:17

answered Dec 30 '16 at 15:08

Writhe

323
1
4

4

And for the vast vast majority of those who don't, they won't. – Mari-Lou A Dec 30 '16 at 15:11
1

Writhe, could you please indicate the exact section of the DROD link, where I can find such information? thanks in advance – An old man in the sea. Dec 30 '16 at 16:41
1

from wikipedia, it seems the words are 'protologisms'/neologisms... – An old man in the sea. Dec 30 '16 at 16:44
@Anoldmaninthesea. Yes. Yes they are. Just edited the answer, for clarity. – Writhe Dec 30 '16 at 17:21
6

This is all well and good for that particular game, but that's not the point of this site at all. – Chris Hayes Dec 30 '16 at 22:56
1

Actually I really appreciate the information. Clearly when it comes to enumerating the frequency of occurrence of things, it is quite frustrating to realize that your native language lacks the necessary words. But in English, we coin words all the time so why not go with these protologisms? – bearvarine Jul 25 '17 at 18:43
They're an excellent addition to the language, apparently influenced by old French, "DROD - The Second Sky" contains some genius dialogue too. – alan2here May 21 '21 at 20:15

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 29 '16 at 10:39

4

Welcome,

Four times, five times, etc..

answered Dec 29 '16 at 10:39

Saravanan

149
2

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited May 31 '22 at 06:53

"Nothing! These three are the only words of their type, and no further terms in the series have ever existed." Oxford dictionary

But you can use tuples,

Names for tuples of specific lengths:

1 single

2 double

3 triple/treble

4 quadruple

5 quintuple pentadruple

6 sextuple hexatruple

7 septuple

8 octuple

9 nonuple

10 decuple

11 undecuple hendecuple

12 duodecuple

13 tredecuple

100 centuple

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 31 '22 at 07:00

Something that other answers have not mentioned is the use of "fold":

onefold

twofold

threefold

fourfold

Merriam-Webster does mention that "twofold" means

having two parts or aspects

So "onefold, twofold ..." should be useable as an alternative sequence here.

Quick note: "thrice" is already rarely used! Quarce can be used to denote 4 times, but it also (extremely!) rarely used.

"Once, twice, thrice,...", what comes next?

6 Answers6

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