sayings and other things.

[enamoured]

This is kind of geeky, I know, but stick with me:

A minute ago, I was rereading a bit of an IM conversation that I had written for a character, and at some point he mentioned that his ex-girlfriend had "seemed so concerned when [he] was barfing five ways into Sunday". For some reason I started wondering where I'd gotten the expression [x] ways into Sunday from, because I've heard it a lot and I tend to use it in my own conversations, be they for fictional conversations or not, and I started wondering where it actually came from. So I consulted Google and got a few different explanations.

The first thing I got from looking up "five ways into Sunday" was WikiAnswers, which gave me "seven ways from Sunday", not "five ways":

What does the phrase seven ways from Sunday mean?
It means 'universal'. No matter what, the outcome will always be the same.

Which wasn't what I was looking for, because (in the example of the sentence I mentioned), the guy was saying that his girlfriend was expressing concern when he was vomiting up a storm. So I checked the second result, Urban Dictionary, which gave me "six ways from Sunday" and three definitions. Two and three best describe what I was kind of getting at, in my opinion, anyway (text copy/pasted and left as is):

2. a numerous amount or alot. Used often to descibe differnt mehods of doing the same thing. i am guessing it came from peole with a bad case of the mondays who think its along time untill they can relax again on sunday. possibly of british origin.

3. To approach a task with zeal or gusto. To do something thoroughly and completely. See also white on rice.

What I'm wondering now is if anyone else has heard that expression ([x] ways from/into Sunday) used in a way that I used it, or if they had heard it used in a different way. Hmm. Like I said: kind of geeky, but I couldn't get that thought out of my head.

Comments

[kayefierch.livejournal.com]

I use x ways to/from Sunday quite a bit to mean "a whole lot", though I always forget whether it's to or from and sometimes change it up, I think? And I like the number thirteen, though that changes too. I've never heard the universal one, though.

[moirariordan.livejournal.com]

I imagine it came from "x ways from Sunday" as meaning, the days of the week? Kind of like the saying "I'm going to _____ you into next week!" Like...you did something all damn week, goddammit, and that's a lot.

Lol, but that's usually how I've heard it used - as in "A LOT," rather than "universal," which strikes me as weird.

[chrryblssmninja.livejournal.com]

I've only heard "five ways from Sunday"

[kirpunz.livejournal.com]

I use "6 ways from Sunday" to mean every possible way. :)