# Thrice



## nemosnemos

Hi everybody.
Some months ago, I read about the word "*thrice*", meaning "three times".
Is it still used in English?

Example:

I went there *thrice* last week
I went there three times last week

Thanks!


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## Alberto77

nemosnemos said:
			
		

> Hi everybody.
> Some months ago, I read about the word "*thrice*", meaning "three times".
> Is it still used in English?
> 
> Example:
> 
> I went there *thrice* last week
> I went there three times last week
> 
> Thanks!


Isn't it "trice"?
ciao
alb


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## lsp

It's t*h*rice. In AE it sounds silly, as if from another century.


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## RaHeem

Paravia la mette come voce antica, arcaica


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## nemosnemos

Ok, thank you very much. You know, I'm Italian...But I like writing in English, I think it could be a good exercise.


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## Willi

lsp said:
			
		

> It's t*h*rice. In AE it sounds silly, as if from another century.


 
Can you use it ironically, for esample, in exasperation:

I told you once, I told you twice, I told you thrice, but still you don't seem to understand?

Just curious...


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## lsp

Willi said:
			
		

> Can you use it ironically, for esample, in exasperation:
> 
> I told you once, I told you twice, I told you thrice, but still you don't seem to understand?
> 
> Just curious...


You can do anything in English, really! But depending how young your audience, they may not understand, much less catch your irony.


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## Willi

Well, I wouldn't dare tell the greengrocer he's a stupid, thick-headed man with serious hearing troubles as well!


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## Alxmrphi

It's used in BE.. VERY rarely.


> Example:
> 
> I went there *thrice* last week
> I went there three times last week



.. So rare I can't even think of an example to explain, I'd never suggest a foreigner to use it, so as long as you know it means three times, that's all you need to know about it.


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## nemosnemos

But saying 'I told you once, I told you twice, I told you thrice, but still you don't seem to understand?' is nice!


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## Alxmrphi

Then use it and keep it alive


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## nemosnemos

No...I think I'll forget it now, and I'll remember its meaning when I'll study Shakespeare! ( If I remember well, Shakespeare used the word "thrice" )


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## Alxmrphi

in Yee Olde English it was used a lot.


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## Hillbilly

Alex_Murphy said:
			
		

> Then use it and keep it alive




Thrice is a good word.  So is fetch.


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## shamblesuk

And Frankie Howerd. _Nay, nay and thrice nay._



			
				Alex_Murphy said:
			
		

> in Yee Olde English it was used a lot.


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## brian

I use thrice all the time, but that's cause I like it. 

I most often use it when someone asks me a question about how often I do something because it's a simple, one-word answer.

_How many times have you wrestled alligators?

Thrice. 


_Brian


PS--proof that thrice is unfortunately becoming unpopular (and also another reason to repopularlize it)...that awful song _Once, twice, three times a lady_...


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## You little ripper!

nemosnemos said:
			
		

> But saying 'I told you once, I told you twice, I told you thrice, but still you don't seem to understand?' is nice!


I like it too. I also find it quite amusing!


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## Willi

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> I like it too. I also find it quite amusing!


 
Wow thank you. That was my purpose!


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## sound shift

I never use it, either in writing or in speech, because it sounds archaic/stilted to me.


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## emma1968

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=77036&highlight=trice

Other information!


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## You little ripper!

sound shift said:
			
		

> I never use it, either in writing or in speech, because it sounds archaic/stilted to me.


I agree. I wouldn't use it unless I was trying to be funny.


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## pebblespebbles

Hello,
 I'm reopening this thread to ask about the meaning of "in a thrice" in a sentence from "Daughter of fortune".  Todd is sick and so weak he can't go out of his bed. Mama Fresia goes to visit him and she helps him to heal :
"... the Indian woman stripped off his clothes in a thrice and proceeded to scrub his entire body with strong liquor". "... la donna Indiana gli tolse i vestiti in tree volte (con 3 movimenti)..." 
O potrebbe avere un significato diverso?
Grazie


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## Fritz41

Non so. Magari "in tre pezzi" per un rituale magico.


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## Mary49

Vedi qui:  thrice    "All my life I've heard (and said) "in a thrice" to mean "instantly".
Corretta è la grafia "in a trice":  Definition of IN A TRICE    "in a small amount of time *:*quickly    She should be here _in a trice"_.
Not thrice but TRICE 
Eggcorn Forum / thrice << trice


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## pebblespebbles

Great!
 Grazie Mary
 (Mi era venuto anche in mente il modo di dire "in quattro e quattr'otto" un po' per caso). Non ho pensato a controllare English Only Forum


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## london calling

pebblespebbles said:


> Hello,
> I'm reopening this thread to ask about the meaning of "in a thrice" in a sentence from "Daughter of fortune".  Todd is sick and so weak he can't go out of his bed. Mama Fresia goes to visit him and she helps him to heal :
> "... the Indian woman stripped off his clothes in a thrice and proceeded to scrub his entire body with strong liquor". "... la donna Indiana gli tolse i vestiti in tree volte (con 3 movimenti)..."
> O potrebbe avere un significato diverso?
> Grazie


_In a trice_ (instantly), not 'in a thrice'.


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## pebblespebbles

Thanks London,
In the book is "in a thrice".


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## johngiovanni

I think it is an error in the English version of the book.
It should be "in a trice" - and there are a couple of suggestions for the Italian in the WR dictionary.

Edit: There is confirmation here: de dos zarpazos


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## london calling

pebblespebbles said:


> Thanks London,
> In the book is "in a thrice".


Yes, well it's wrong, isn't it.


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## pebblespebbles

london calling said:


> Yes, well it's wrong, isn't it.


I think you know better than me! "All'istante" is correct for me, "in tre volte" it is not !  I thought at first "thrice" was an old fashion way for "trice",  but apparently it is not. So,  it may be a mispell in the book!

I saw the edit by johngiovanni: thanks, they got it wrong in the book!
 I checked an English dictionary too and it gives the same "in a trice : instantly.  Thrice :three times"


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