Home › Glossary › Letter S

snake eyes

Games
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Snake eyes is the modern term for the double ace, the lowest throw of two dice, signifying bad luck.

Detailed Definition
Snake eyes enters poetry as a vivid contemporary emblem of the worst luck and the stare of misfortune. In modern verse it symbolizes the unexpected disaster of the lowest score. Poets use the image of the two ones as eyes to explore themes of sudden reversal, the venom of bad fortune, and the visual drama of the dice that fails the player.
Example
Example in poetry:
Snake eyes, the double ace, appear in poems of pure and sudden misfortune; Modern dice verse uses the staring pair of ones for the worst possible throw; “The dice showed snake eyes and the night closed its lids” illustrates absolute bad luck; Educational examples present the slang as the visual and emotional bottom of the cast; Poets keep the term when fortune must arrive in its most venomous and unmistakable form.
Additional Notes
Snake eyes, the modern term for the double ace, concentrates pure misfortune into a single staring pair of ones. The slang’s visual and slightly venomous flavor allows poets to stage the worst possible throw with memorable force. Teachers may pair the term with ames ace or boxcars to show the full range of dice extremes. Related expressions include the general language of the lowest cast. The image works best when luck must arrive in its most unmistakable and unwelcome form.
Also Known As
aces two aces
Skip to main content