Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
ifs and ans. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ifs and ans, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ifs and ans in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ifs and ans you have here. The definition of the word
ifs and ans will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ifs and ans, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From the old rhyme "if 'ifs' and 'ans' were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers" (and variations). Compare if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. See an in archaic sense meaning "if".
Noun
ifs and ans pl (plural only)
- hypotheticals; counterfactuals; things that one only wishes were the case
c. 1599, Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's Holiday:Away with these ifs and ans, Hans, and these et caeteraes, by mine honor Rowland Lacy none but the king shall wrong thee: […]
1865, The Musical World, page 46:"Oh!" quoth the Emperor, "Oh, excellent oats! . . . you feed your horses upon ifs and ans. The man that invented ifs and ans certainly made gold of chopped straw! […]
1912, Percy Adolphus Vaile, The Soul of Golf:And yet such is the constitution of the human golfing soul that it not only fails to achieve it, but invents for itself multiform and manifold ifs and ans for not achieving it— […]
See also