I know the word “thrice” exists but is it actually used by anyone?
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No, at least not by normal people.
I may have used it once when I was in a Shakespeare mood.
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People know what the word means, so they’ve obviously seen or heard it before, but they don’t use it. It’s very archaic sounding.
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Yes, Torsten, I use it often.
Why go for ‘three times’ when when we have ‘thrice’, a single word meaning the same?
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Do you mean to say those who might use the word are non-normal though not abnormal?
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Because no native speaker would use it, and I don’t want to sound archaic or weird. I also don’t want to give the impression that I am above all conventions and can create my own language. I agree that the English language belongs to no one, but when it comes to using it, native speakers still have the “right” to set the standards.
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What can be the logic and reason behind discarding and treating ‘thrice’ as archaic while ‘once’ and ‘twice’ are acceptable?
Nevertheless, I agree that native speakers have the ‘right’ to set standards!
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Please look at this again:
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Language changes constantly and there is not always sound reasoning to it.
Why do homonyms exist?
Why does ‘ough’ have seven different pronunciations?
Why are ‘good’ and ‘food’ pronounced differently when the first letter is changed?
What about ‘doe’ vs ‘dough’ vs ‘sew’ vs ‘mow’?
Or ‘do’ vs ‘dew’?
Why are there regular and irregular nouns and verbs?
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Sorry.
When I made the comment above about “normal people”, I was thinking of the non-normal group as having one member – me.
If I have ever used the word “thrice” it was to someone who understood the word and who would take away from it the idea of a somewhat archaic word. I’m not really saying not to use it, but understand that if you do, it will convey a certain meaning to the listener, and not just “three times.”
As for standards, the essence of speaking is communication, which requires a speaker and a listener. In choosing your words, you need to consider what the listener will hear. If I were to use the word “thrice” to different audiences, there will be different types of effects including:
- not knowing what I’m talking about
- understanding an archaic word, but having it draw away from the effect of the sentence
- recognize that there is a rarely used word used to some effect
- simply thinking “three times”.
So “standards” are fluid. It’s more important to know your audience.
“You’re once, twice, three times a lady.”
— Lionel Richie
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From my experience I would say most people in countries like Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia cannot pronounce “Th” notably when the word starts with that. I know of Irish people who say trice instead of thrice. Its perhaps archaic in native countries and not in non-native countries. I do not quite agree with native speakers have the right to set standards as it better to study english in non-native countries than native countries. The english education is more shallow in native countries unless you are doing english literature or summat in university.
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Just to add, I know of many native speakers who say “firty five” instead of “thirty five” and “fries” instead of “thrice”. I guess probably because of lack of importance given to pronunciation in the primary schools in native countries, it has slipped down the pecking order.
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