the.com/score
Twenty sheep, one tally mark — civilization's first scoreboard.
means A set of twenty, or more loosely, a tally kept of points, debts, or wins in a game or grudge.
from From Old Norse 'skor,' a notch or cut, tied to the practice of literally cutting a mark into a stick or tally for every twenty counted — sheep, days, anything needing a running count. The 'notch' sense survives in 'score a line,' while the counting sense gave us Lincoln's 'four score and seven years' and the scoreboard at a ballgame alike.
- lincoln's math
- four score and seven equals eighty-seven
- music sense
- from marking parts on scored paper lines
- slang drift
- buying drugs and winning romance share one word
- settle a score
- literally means erase someone's notch