Three ways to/from Sunday [+ six ; eight] (2025)

Hello,
I'm watching something and I heard this sentence:

"For those that he cares about, he'll do just about anything. But he'll screw you three ways until Sunday if he doesn't"

Now I'm not sure I get the meaning of three ways until Sunday.
Does it mean "very much/badly"?

mike83 said:

Thanks very much!

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The expression of 6 ways to Sunday refers to the six ways that a woman can make a man achieve orgasm. They are orally, anally, vaginally, by hand (hand job), by foot (toe job), & by breast (aka: French F--k).

The more practical and commonly used expression of 3 ways to Sunday, refers to the above mentioned 3 hardcore ways, using the three orifices, in which there is actual penetration. The other 3 ways are really forms of masturbation.

Hope this clears things up!

sgt2145 said:

The expression of 6 ways to Sunday refers to the six ways that a woman can make a man achieve orgasm. They are orally, anally, vaginally, by hand (hand job), by foot (toe job), & by breast (aka: French F--k).

The more practical and commonly used expression of 3 ways to Sunday, refers to the above mentioned 3 hardcore ways, using the three orifices, in which there is actual penetration. The other 3 ways are really forms of masturbation.

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That strikes me as extremely unlikely. Do you have a citation for this etymology?

Sorry, sgt2145, I would put, ooh, at least £1 on your etymology being incorrect.

Here's what Michael Quinion's World Wide Words website has to say, having pointed out that most people who've looked at the expression - in its many forms - have felt unsure of its origin:

The key to its origin lies in this early slang collection [...]

SQUINT-A-PIPES. A squinting man or woman; said to be born in the middle of the week, and looking both ways for Sunday; or born in a hackney coach, and looking out of both windows; fit for a cook, one eye in the pot, and the other up the chimney; looking nine ways at once.​

Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, by Captain Francis Grose, 1785.​

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​

a_menudo said:

Coul this expression be used in the context of cooking? For example, "You can prepare chicken three ways until Sunday"?

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Or six ways until Monday? No, I don't think so.

As a note, "eight ways to Sunday" is also used in my experience, and is the first version I thought of, so it's a fairly common variant.

Copyright said:

As a note, "eight ways to Sunday" is also used in my experience,

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kayve said:

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There are 289 results in a Google Search for eight ways to Sunday (a fairly solid number, since the highest number is 1,000). Seems I'm not alone.

a_menudo said:

So can this expression (and its variations) be used only in the context of screwing someone as in the first post?

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It can be used for pretty much any action - but I agree that harm doesn't quite fit. It's too formal sounding - or polite, as ain'ttranslation points out.

By the way, a_menudo, I think you realize this, but just in case you don't, screwing isn't referring to sex here. It's difficult to say exactly what it does mean without more context - perhaps "cheat" or "abuse." (Abuse is also a bit formal sounding, by the way. )

a_menudo said:

Thank you, Kate. I did realize this.
So, to sum up, can this expression be used only in the contexts of having it out for somebody? And one must remember not to use too polite a wording?

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No, that's not correct. As sunkitty says in post 2, it means "in every way you can imagine."

She cleaned her house six ways to Sunday.
He studied for that test six ways to Sunday.

Copyright said:

No, that's not correct. As sunkitty says in post 2, it means "in every way you can imagine."

She cleaned her house six ways to Sunday.
He studied for that test six ways to Sunday.

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Exactly. It can be used for any situation in which you want to say (in a casual way) that the person did it thoroughly. Cleaning the house, studying - or "screwing with" somebody.

ain'ttranslationfun? said:

@a_menudo: Pssst, that's "to have it in for somebody" .

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It can be "out" too, I think.

mike83 said:

Hello,
I'm watching something and I heard this sentence:

"For those that he cares about, he'll do just about anything. But he'll screw you three ways until Sunday if he doesn't"

Now I'm not sure I get the meaning of three ways until Sunday.
Does it mean "very much/badly"?

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You were watching Prison Break right? I also came here because of prison break.

"Until" didn't sound right for a prisoner, so I searched and found this on fanpop: In Prison Break history, who said that if Michael doesn't like you, he'll "screw you three ways 'til Sunday!"?

Till or 'til sounds more appropriate, for whatever that's worth.

Copyright said:

"Until" didn't sound right for a prisoner, so I searched and found this on fanpop: In Prison Break history, who said that if Michael doesn't like you, he'll "screw you three ways 'til Sunday!"?

Till or 'til sounds more appropriate, for whatever that's worth.

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It's actually from Suits. In an episode where Donna explains Harvey Specter.

PovoljanA said:

It's actually from Suits. In an episode where Donna explains Harvey Specter.

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His

Copyright said:

"Until" didn't sound right for a prisoner, so I searched and found this on fanpop: In Prison Break history, who said that if Michael doesn't like you, he'll "screw you three ways 'til Sunday!"?

Till or 'til sounds more appropriate, for whatever that's wort

Copyright said:

"Until" didn't sound right for a prisoner, so I searched and found this on fanpop: In Prison Break history, who said that if Michael doesn't like you, he'll "screw you three ways 'til Sunday!"?

Till or 'til sounds more appropriate, for whatever that's worth.

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And also one of the main characters is called Mike.

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PovoljanA said:

It's actually from Suits. In an episode where Donna explains Harvey Specter.

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No it’s not. It’s from Prison Break, and refers to the character Michael Schofield.