There is Nothing That Comes After Once, Twice, Thrice

Today I found out there is nothing that comes after the sequence “once, twice, thrice”.

Interestingly, even though these words are roughly equivalent, differing only in the numeric value they refer to, it is now considered poor English to use “thrice” instead of the equivalent “three times”.  At the same time, it is considered poor English to use “one time” instead of “once”, which seems odd given “thrice” is now taboo.  Just as odd, “twice” is currently considered equally as proper as “two times” in modern English.

So what we now have here is “once” being proper to use; twice being acceptable, but not necessarily preferred over its equivalent “two times”; “thrice” being a no-no; and then nothing beyond that.  English!

Sources:

• Ask Oxford: What Comes After Once, Twice, Thrice
• BBC Learning English