We have: "it takes two to tango", "two is company; three is a crowd", etc... Are there any similar sayings that refer to four people?
asked Nov 24, 2014 at 18:58
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1It's not English, but I quite like the Irish one: ceathrar cóisir, cúigear comhluadar “four’s a party, five’s a crowd”.– Janus Bahs JacquetCommented Nov 24, 2014 at 19:05
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2The poem my grandmother used to quote to me went something like "Two's company/Three's a crowd/Four's too much/And five's not allowed"... but I can't seem to find a reference or the rest of it online.– Digital ChrisCommented Nov 24, 2014 at 20:11
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1From Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.– BarmarCommented Nov 24, 2014 at 20:42
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1From¹ Orson Welles: “My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.”– James Waldby - jwpat7Commented Nov 25, 2014 at 0:33
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3 Answers
Two is company three's a crowd. Four on a sidewalk is not allowed.
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Hi Captain O, welcome to EL&U. Note, the system has flagged your post as "low-quality because of its length and content." An answer on EL&U is expected to be authoritative, detailed, and explain why it is correct. It's best if you edit your answer to provide a published example or a reference to this epithet, to prove that you haven't just made it up. For further guidance, see How to Answer and take the EL&U Tour :-) Commented Feb 2, 2019 at 7:15
No. Not a very common one, at least.
The reason there are expressions for one, two, and three is because of the special status accorded to a couple in the culture where the expression originated.
So: there are lots of "one" expressions indicating that one person is not enough to have a one-on-one relationship. "Table for one." "One is the loneliest number."
There are "two" expressions, like "It takes two to tango," indicating that "two" is enough to have a one-on-one relationship.
There are "three" expressions, like "third wheel" or "three's a crowd," indicating that those people not in the one-on-one, couples, relationship, are extraneous. Three in this case stands for "more than two," and no special "four" or "five" expressions are needed.
The only think I can think of that even remotely qualifies is "fourth wheel," probably a back-formation from "third wheel." If you have three people, a couple and a single, at an event together, the couple may try to set up the single with a "fourth wheel" to keep him or her from being a "third wheel."
People talk about trying to find a "fourth" for bridge or golf, but that doesn't sound like what you're talking about. Similarly, the "Fourth Estate" is a group of people, but again, that's more specific than your examples.
To summarize: when it comes to idioms, any person more than two is a third, no matter how many of them there are.
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I've read that there are some primitive societies that don't even have words for numbers higher than 3, they're all just lumped together as many.– BarmarCommented Nov 24, 2014 at 20:45
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@Barmar - "Many" is "three". More than that is "lots". (Source: Troll counting in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.)– AndyTCommented Sep 26, 2017 at 14:27
Four is a party and Five is a mob. I read that in an old school textbook but I can't remember the name.
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It would help to find a reference when posting answers like this. Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 16:25
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Digital Chris, with virtually the same response, used a 'comment' as he had no supporting reference. When you gain enough rep, you will be able to do likewise. Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 16:32