I am coming up on a year here in the state of Pennsylvania . And my
battle with PennDot continues. Thankfully it has moved from being personal to
business. Mostly. I really wish they would put my multiple tax donations (I
discovered a new one we have to pay last week!) towards fixing the roads around
here – I swear it will be the bumps and potholes that send me into labor any
day now.
At work I’m on trial-and-error #3 on what is called an ECMS
Overhead Submission. We’re supposed to have one to invoice city and state
projects. (Note the operative word “supposed” in that sentence…) As I submitted
for the third time my pile of paperwork, I was reminded of the hopeful idiom
“Third Time’s the Charm”.
I should probably borrow a book from the library on English
idioms. Their mysterious roots are rather fascinating. This one is one that
doesn’t have a very firm explanation, except that “threes” are powerful in
English. As a writer, you quickly learn the “power of the threes” in describing
things. Two words fall short – four words are too many. Three-leaf clovers are
lucky. There are proverbs in many languages dealing with the “luck of three”. Perhaps
the ultimate explanation of the “charm” behind this number comes in God’s
creation of all things. He, Himself, is a Trinity. And He created man to be
triune: body, soul and spirit.
One rather amusing explanation behind this idiom is centered
around a murderer named John “Babbacombe” Lee who was sentenced to hang in
1885. The executioner tried three times to unsuccessfully hang to death this
man. Either he had a really thick neck or the executioner was a novice so his
sentence was commuted and, eventually, he was freed. In his case, third time
was the charm. However, this story doesn’t seem to have spawned the idiom,
versions of which were around long before 1885.
On the other hand, three times doesn’t always bring a charm.
Every loosing baseball team in the MLB this opening season week (including the
Pittsburgh Pirates) will tell you that. Sometimes, you just strike out.
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