# What does coming up threes mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968 "2007-06-14T06:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/1 "2007-06-14T06:03:07Z")
I tried Google, I tried Urban Dictionary, I even tried a plain old dictionary- but I still can’t figure out what coming up threes means. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/2 "2007-06-14T06:17:36Z")
What’s the context? With only 19 google results, its clearly not a very common idiom. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/3 "2007-06-14T06:44:42Z")
[Song lyrics](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/pogues/if+i+should+fall+from+grace+with+god_20109732.html) (probably most of your google results): Bury me at sea where no murdered ghost can haunt me If I rock upon the waves no corpse will lie upon me Coming up threes, boys Coming up threes, boys Let me go down in the mud where the rivers all run dry ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/4 "2007-06-14T07:10:40Z")
In the context of those lyrics - perhaps something to do with the old belief that a drowning man comes to the surface three times? ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/5 "2007-06-14T07:18:00Z")
Hmmm… I know Cecil did a column on this supposed “phenomenon” but I’d never actually heard of it before, nor heard the phrase coming up threes… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/6 "2007-06-14T07:29:28Z")
In the context of the lyrics, I agree, it seems to be referring to the idiom that a man drowning will go down for the third time and stay down. Elsewhere, ‘coming up in threes’ usually refers to the idea that significant (usually unfortunate) events often seem to happen in clusters of three - celebrity deaths, natural disasters, crashes, etc. Usually this is just referred to as ‘happening in threes’. I think the lyric is probably purposely using something that sounds like one idiom, but meaning another (or a little of both). Quite clever actually. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/7 "2007-06-14T07:48:07Z")
The Irish accent has fooled the lyrics writers it isn’t “threes”, it is “ **trees** ” so “coming up trees” is just an irish way of saying “pushing up daisies” - i.e. dead 😉 Si ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/8 "2007-06-14T08:49:51Z")
Bu… but… but I heard Joe Strummer say it, and he _definitely_ said threes. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/9 "2007-06-14T13:19:21Z")
There was a belief prevalent in the 19th century, popularized by authors such as [Poe](http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/horror/TheWorksofEdgarAllenPoeVolume1/chap13.html) and [Verne](http://www.fullbooks.com/Eight-Hundred-Leagues-on-the-Amazon5.html), that a drowned body will float again after three days. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/10 "2007-06-14T20:34:42Z")
OK, reading through the google results that don’t deal with the particular song, one definitely uses coming up threes in the sense of drowning. But another uses it differently, actually seems a bit like ‘coming up roses’: “Besides the rain delay, everything was coming up threes last night.” What? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/11 "2007-06-14T20:45:34Z")
I don’t see much sense in the drowning aspect. If you drown, you’re already essentially buried at sea. Furthermore, the lyrics as a whole (one line is “If Im buried neath the sod”) refer to death, burial, and after-death, but don’t suggest any cause of said death, and certainly don’t support the notion that it was specifically by drowning. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/12 "2007-06-14T21:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] OK, reading through the google results that don’t deal with the particular song, one definitely uses coming up threes in the sense of drowning. But another uses it differently, actually seems a bit like ‘coming up roses’: “Besides the rain delay, everything was coming up threes last night.” What? [/QUOTE] It’s part of a larger article where the number three was apparently a frequent occurrance in this guy’s awareness. It’s preceeded by a mention of a three hour rain delay, then: “Besides the three hour rain delay, everything was coming up threes last night” “Only three of us stayed until the game ended” “Dave S., let out three antibiotic-powered farts that almost killed us…” “And I got home exactly at 3 a.m.” “Does anyone think they’ll actually get all three Subway Series games in this weekend?” …and it continues… ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/13 "2007-06-14T21:38:19Z")
[QUOTE=Belrix] It’s part of a larger article where the number three was apparently a frequent occurrance in this guy’s awareness. It’s preceeded by a mention of a three hour rain delay, then: “Besides the three hour rain delay, everything was coming up threes last night” “Only three of us stayed until the game ended” “Dave S., let out three antibiotic-powered farts that almost killed us…” “And I got home exactly at 3 a.m.” “Does anyone think they’ll actually get all three Subway Series games in this weekend?” …and it continues… [/QUOTE] Oh, see, I couldn’t get that to open, so all I had was the little snippet in the google results. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/14 "2007-06-14T21:47:17Z")
Oh, and as for the interpretation of the song’s meaning as a whole- He says “_If_ I’m buried 'neath the sod but the angels won’t receive me” then later says the “Bury me at sea” part. So, it sorta sounds like fear of being rejected by the hallowed ground (“If I should fall from grace with God”) and choosing burial at sea instead. But yeah, he’s already dead at this point (“where no doctor can relieve me”). 😕 ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/15 "2007-06-15T12:10:09Z")
Anyone? Anyone even heard the expression before? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/16 "2007-06-15T15:13:31Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] Anyone? Anyone even heard the expression before? Bueller? [/QUOTE] I remember older cartoons (from the 50’s or 60’s) that when showing a person drowning always showed the victim doing a count - One (showing one finger), two and three. I’ve had the impression since then that 3 times underwater is required to drown. I’ve never heard the actual expression, but I think that may have been the belief at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/17 "2007-06-15T17:14:38Z")
I always wondered about **Red** ’s moniker. Now I know for sure. A curse upon you, Oliver Cromwell. ---
**Author:** ![Kedrith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kedrith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedrith)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/18 "2011-11-21T10:12:03Z")
I think the “comes up threes” lines refers to the superstition that good and bad luck are believed to come in threes. Just my two cents worth it could be the drowning superstition or perhaps the luck and bad luck in threes is linked to going down for the third time. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/19 "2011-11-21T10:23:22Z")
Well zombies certainly come in threes. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968/20 "2011-11-21T16:14:44Z")
I realize this is a zombie but… Seems to me that this would be related to a dice game. I looked at the Wikipedia article for craps and three didn’t seem that spectacular of a roll. But then I remembered the phrase “sixes and sevens” and looked up the Wikipedia article [on that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_sixes_and_sevens) and it led me to the article on the dice game called [hazard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_%28game%29) in which if you throw a three you lose. So, in hazard, if it looks like it’s coming up threes, it looks like you’re going to lose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-coming-up-threes-mean/407968.md?page=2)