# Meaning of slang term "much in" in England?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-slang-term-much-in-in-england/966295>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 16, 2022, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-slang-term-much-in-in-england/966295 "2022-06-16T11:45:41Z")\
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**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-slang-term-much-in-in-england/966295/27 "2022-06-16T19:41:27Z")

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> [@Tibby](#):
>
> But, what in tarnation does _“a bit at sixes and sevens”_ mean?

Assuming you aren’t just having a laugh and actually want to know, my understanding is that it’s [an English idiom used to describe a condition of confusion or disarray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_sixes_and_sevens).

I first learned the phrase from the Rolling Stones’ song Tumbling Dice, although they also added ‘nines’ to the phrase, which seems to be a Stones invention…?

> [@Meaning of "sixes and sevens and nines"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-sixes-and-sevens-and-nines/283084):
>
> This could be a Cafe Society question (apologies – please move if appropriate) because it deals with a song lyric, but it might also be a general phrase and I’m trying to find its meaning. The song is The Rolling Stones’ “Tumblin’ Dice” and there’s a passage that goes: “Honey, got no money, I’m all sixes and sevens and nines.” What do the sixes, sevens and nines represent? The song has a strong gambling theme, but I can’t figure the correlation. Are they rolls of the dice? What significance …

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