# Once, Twice, Thrice, ....? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199 "2006-01-30T13:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/1 "2006-01-30T13:59:39Z")
I know that “thrice” has mostly fallen out of common usage in English. But I’ve never heard single words for “four times,” “five times,” etc. Did they ever exist? What are/were they? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/2 "2006-01-30T14:18:41Z")
For what it’s worth, my brother noticed that “thrice” was still used pretty commonly in Kenyan English. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/3 "2006-01-30T14:44:57Z")
That sounds so silly that not even Lionel Richie could say it. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/4 "2006-01-30T15:02:37Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I know that “thrice” has mostly fallen out of common usage in English. But I’ve never heard single words for “four times,” “five times,” etc. Did they ever exist? What are/were they? Once, Twice, Thrice, PERIOD. [\*\* What Comes Next \*\*](http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/once) What more can you say? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/5 "2006-01-30T15:17:02Z")
…four times a lady? That’s a bit too much lady for me I think. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/6 "2006-01-30T17:30:52Z")
Well, since “x” means “times,” I suggest fourx, fivex, sixx, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/7 "2006-01-30T17:37:31Z")
1, 2, & 3 are also the only ones which don’t follow the “th” pattern for forming ordinals - they’re just different. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/8 "2006-01-30T17:44:14Z")
Sez some dude on STUMPERS-L: > [@](#): > > Latin had names for each of the “times” through four (semel, bis, ter, quater), then had an ending (-iens) that could be added to the stem of any other number, with accommodating sound changes, to produce virtually any numerical “time.” English seems to have felt that thrice was enough, but the pattern is so clear that one can easily construct what “four times” would have been had it existed. > > The English paradigm is to take the stem of the number and add the genitive ending to it. “Once” is “on + es,” "twice is “twi + es,” “thrice” is “thri + es,” saying in effect “of one, of two, of three.” “Of four,” then, would have been “fource,” the “c” in this and every other case merely being a later spelling convention. > > A shorter answer to your question is “no.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-twice-thrice/342199/9 "2006-01-30T18:23:59Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Well, since “x” means “times,” I suggest fourx, fivex, sixx, etc. How would that get pronounced :dubious: ? Once, twice , thrice, ‘forks’?