[General] three times vs thrice

[shiho0165]

I always use "three times" instead of "thrice".
In manual writing, which is better to put?

 

[Raymott]

I always use "three times" instead of "thrice".
In manual writing, which is better to put?

Use three (or 3) times, not thrice. 'Thrice' is rarely used any more in English.

 

[shiho0165]

Thank you for your message. I really appriciate it!

 

[Tdol]

Thrice is for magic, fairy tales and Harry Potter, not manuals.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thrice is for magic, fairy tales and Harry Potter, not manuals.

And for amusing quotes from Carry On films.

 

[Rover_KE]

And for amusing quotes from Carry On films.

. . .and from 'Up Pompeii':

'Woe! Woe! and thrice woe!'

Rover

 

[emsr2d2]

Now I'm confused. Which one is "Nay, nay and thrice nay" from?

 

[BobK]

And for amusing quotes from Carry On films.

Yes - I'm sure there was a thrice within a few lines of Frankie Howerd's 'Infamy, infamy...' line. ;-)

b

 

[bhaisahab]

In Indian English "thrice" is common. Indian English, these days, is a strange mixture of 18th/19th century BrE and modern AmE.

 

[Barb_D]

That's funny that you wrote magic spells. That was exactly what I thought of!

 

[shiho0165]

Thank you for lots of information. i can grab the difference between "three times" and "thrice", and used three times in my manual.

 

[BobK]

Good. There's one other usage that is worthy of note. Although the word 'thrice' is rare except in the special contexts we've mentioned, it is still used in several composite adjectives. BNC lists these:

1 THRICE-WEEKLY 6
2 THRICE-MARRIED 3
3 THRICE-DECORATED 2
4 THRICE-YEARLY 1
5 THRICE-TAKEN 1
6 THRICE-RISEN 1
7 THRICE-REPURED 1
8 THRICE-HAPPY 1
9 THRICE-BLESSED 1

See more here British National Corpus (BYU-BNC) , and don't worry about 'repured'. It's from a very old source, and seems from context to mean 'refined'; it's not a word I'd met until today. ;-)

And note that these can have special meanings as well. An old soldier can be 'thrice-decorated', but not a kitchen (however much it may need decorating!)

b

 

[BobSmith]

Good. There's one other usage that is worthy of note. Although the word 'thrice' is rare except in the special contexts we've mentioned, it is still used in several composite adjectives. BNC lists these:

See more here British National Corpus (BYU-BNC) , and don't worry about 'repured'. It's from a very old source, and seems from context to mean 'refined'; it's not a word I'd met until today. ;-)

And not that these can have special meanings as well. An old soldier can be 'thrice-decorated', but not a kitchen (however much it may need decorating!)

b

No self-respecting American would be caught dead using thrice, even once. I have, on occasion, specifically to get a reaction ;-)

 

[BobK]

No self-respecting American would be caught dead using thrice, even once. I have, on occasion, specifically to get a reaction ;-)

Maybe not in some parts, but COCA lists nearly 100 hits for those compound adjectives, starting with these:

1 THRICE-WEEKLY 36
2 THRICE-MARRIED 8
3 THRICE-WHIPPED 4
4 THRICE-REPEATED 3
5 THRICE-YEARLY 3
6 THRICE-DAILY 3
7 THRICE-DIVORCED 3
8 THRICE-CONVICTED 2
9 THRICE-ANNUAL 2
10 THRICE-CURSED
.
.
.

Big place

 

[SoothingDave]

No self-respecting American would be caught dead using thrice, even once. I have, on occasion, specifically to get a reaction ;-)

I agree. It's not a word that's used unless one is specifically using the word as an "odd" word.

 

[Rover_KE]

Thank you for lots of information. I can grasp the difference between "three times" and "thrice", and used "three times" in my manual.

Always capitalise I.

Rover

 

[BobSmith]

Big place

Makes me want to pull out the ol’ thrice-baked potatoes recipe!