As I supped with two friends this afternoon, the phrase Two’s company, three’s a crowd kept popping in my head like a Jiffy Pop pan being removed and returned to the stovetop over and over. The thought that was paired with it was, “Really? This threesome is rockin’ this high tea joint.”
I kept thinking, three friends together seems like a perfect combo. But doesn’t a combo refer to a twosome? Like the pretzel snack Combos – pretzel and cheese? No it does not! According to Merriam-Webster, a combo is a small musical group or a combination of different things – referring to a number of people or items. But then again, I saw a question on algebra.com that read, “If I have 5 pants and 3 shirts, how many combinations do I have?” Isn’t that pairs, or twosomes? Hm…
I went back to Merriam-Webster, to find the definition of ‘two’s company, three’s a crowd. It is an idiom used when two people want to be alone together and a third person is not welcome. Now I see…it’s a matter of choice, and why the phrase didn’t combine with my siesta.
Sitting with one friend for a chat…I wonder am I talking too much? Did I listen carefully? Will I remember this information? It’s a two-way conversation, pure and simple. The conversation is a teeter-totter, flowing back and forth, back and forth….smooth and easy until one kid thinks it’s funny to sit on the end of the seat landing on the earth holding the other youth, legs dangling, hanging on for dear life. Who wants to endure being a conversational hostage?
My curiosity not satisfied, I kept searching like Sherlock Holmes looking for clues. Quora.com presented me with this tidbit – One of the earliest versions of ‘“two is company, three is a crowd” was recorded in 1678 by John Ray, in his collection English Proverbs English Proverbs, p.471 One’s too few, three too many.’
I totally disagree, Mr. Ray. I find three the perfect combination. Fairytales almost always include the number three – Goldilocks and The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Rumpelstiltskin gives the queen three guesses, etc. The power of the number three – body, mind, soul – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – solid, liquid, gas – Newton’s three laws of motion – even School House Rock sings ‘Three is a magic number!” I could go on and on.
My interest appeased, I confidently sit, knowing this idiom does not depict today’s quaint afternoon trigonal tea. Our three-way conversation flowed like molasses, sweetening our time together. We ladies chatted through the three course meal, like three hens in a hen house. We saw no evil, spoke no evil and heard no evil. Our trinity continued to solidify like the strongest geometric shape, the triangle. Before leaving, we performed Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would be in charge of our next outing.
Two’s company…. three was a triumph!