Whiteisms
The Archive

Etymology Journal · S

Six ways from Sunday

Meaning

To do something in every possible way, or to be completely overwhelmed. It implies thoroughness or a state of chaos.

Intensive, emphatic

Used in a sentence

  • I have checked this report six ways from Sunday.
  • The tornado beat that house up six ways from Sunday.
  • He knows that car engine six ways from Sunday.

The backstory

This phrase has been around since the 1800s. While the exact reasoning is lost, it likely suggests a Sunday as a day of total rest or a specific day of calculation, meaning you have accounted for everything.

Heard in

Nationwide

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