You’ve heard it in history class. You’ve probably seen it parodied in cartoons or quoted by every politician trying to sound a bit more "presidential." But let’s be real for a second. If someone walked up to you on the street and asked you to do the math on the fly, would you know what does four score mean without pulling out your phone?
Most people don't. It sounds dusty. It sounds like something written on parchment by a guy in a top hat—which, to be fair, it was. Abraham Lincoln used it to kick off the Gettysburg Address in 1863, and ever since, it’s been burned into the American psyche.
The short answer? A "score" is simply twenty. So, "four score" is eighty.
When Lincoln said "four score and seven," he was talking about 87 years. But why didn't he just say "eighty-seven years ago"? Why go through the linguistic gymnastics? Honestly, it comes down to the vibe. Lincoln wasn't just giving a status update; he was channel surfing through the King James Bible and ancient poetry to find a rhythm that felt sacred. He wanted the weight of history to settle on the shoulders of everyone standing in that cemetery.
The Math Behind the Mystery
It’s basic multiplication, but the terminology is what trips people up. In the old-school counting system, a score represents a set of 20 items.
Think about it like this:
If you have one score of eggs, you have 20 eggs.
If you have three score, you’re looking at 60.
So, naturally, four score equals 80.
Add the "seven" Lincoln mentioned, and you get 87.
Subtract 87 from 1863 (the year of the speech), and you land right on 1776. He wasn't just picking a random number. He was pointing specifically to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He was reminding a war-torn country that their "new nation" wasn't actually that old. It was still a teenager in the grand scheme of global history.
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Why Use "Score" Anyway?
We don’t use it much now, except maybe when we’re feeling fancy or talking about The Hobbit. But back in the day, vigesimal counting—that’s the fancy word for base-20 systems—was fairly common.
It’s actually pretty intuitive if you think about humans. We have ten fingers and ten toes. That’s twenty bits of "counting hardware" built right into our bodies. Before everyone had a calculator in their pocket, counting by twenties was a quick way to group large numbers. You see this everywhere in history. The French word for eighty is literally quatre-vingts, which translates directly to "four twenties."
Shakespeare loved it. The Bible is packed with it. In Psalm 90:10, it talks about the days of our years being "threescore years and ten." That’s 70 years, for those keeping track. Lincoln was a self-taught man who read the King James Bible until the pages were thin. He knew that using "score" would make his speech sound like a sermon. It gave the Gettysburg Address a liturgical quality. It made the struggle of the Civil War feel like a biblical trial rather than just a messy political dispute.
He was a master of branding before branding was a thing.
The Weight of 1863
To understand what does four score mean in context, you have to look at where Lincoln was standing. He was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A few months earlier, over 50,000 men had been killed, wounded, or went missing on that soil. The air probably still smelled like death.
He was the "second act" that day. The main speaker was Edward Everett, a famous orator who spoke for two hours. Two. Hours.
Then Lincoln got up. He spoke for about two minutes. He used fewer than 275 words.
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By starting with "Four score and seven years ago," he bypassed the immediate gore of the battlefield and zoomed out. He forced his audience to look at the big picture. He wasn't talking about the North or the South. He was talking about "our fathers" and a "new nation."
If he had started with "In 1776," it would have sounded like a history lecture. By saying "four score," he made it sound like an epic. It’s the difference between saying "I’m 30 years old" and "I have walked this earth for three decades." One is a fact; the other is a story.
Common Misconceptions About the Phrase
People often think "score" is a specific American term. It’s not. It’s Old English (scoru), likely coming from the Old Norse word skor, which means a notch or a tally.
Imagine a shepherd counting sheep. Every time he gets to twenty, he cuts a notch—a "score"—into a stick. That’s the origin. It’s a tactile, physical way of keeping track of the world.
Another weird myth is that Lincoln wrote the "four score" line on the back of a greasy envelope while on the train to Gettysburg. Historians like Gabor Boritt have pretty much debunked this. Lincoln was a perfectionist. He went through several drafts. He chose "four score" deliberately. He wanted that specific, rhythmic cadence. He was composing a prose poem, not just a speech.
How to Use It Today Without Sounding Like a Weirdo
Can you use "score" in modern conversation? Sure, but use it sparingly. If you tell your boss you’ll have that report done in "three-score minutes," they might think you’ve had a stroke.
However, it works when you want to emphasize the passage of time or add a bit of gravitas to a milestone.
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- "Grandpa is four score years young today." (80th birthday)
- "It’s been a score of years since we graduated." (20 years)
Basically, use it when you want to sound intentional.
The Lasting Legacy of 87 Years
The phrase has become a linguistic shortcut for "important historical stuff." It’s a meme that’s lasted over 150 years. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, he started his "I Have a Dream" speech with "Five score years ago."
He was mirroring Lincoln. He was doing the math. 1963 minus 100 (five score) is 1863—the year of the Emancipation Proclamation.
By using that specific phrasing, King was holding America accountable. He was saying, "Lincoln made a promise in 'score' language, and a century later, we’re still waiting for the check to clear."
It’s powerful. It’s more than just a number.
Actionable Insights for Using Historical Language
If you're writing or speaking and want to channel that "Lincoln energy," here’s how to do it without being cheesy:
- Vary your rhythm. Lincoln followed "Four score and seven years ago" (long, rhythmic) with "our fathers brought forth on this continent" (shorter, punchier).
- Use the "Rule of Three." Lincoln did this constantly: "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
- Choose words with "weight." Instead of "started," try "conceived." Instead of "dedicated," try "consecrated."
- Do the math first. If you’re going to use "score," make sure you’re actually talking about a multiple of 20. Nothing ruins the vibe faster than getting the math wrong.
To truly understand what does four score mean, you have to look past the dictionary definition. It’s a bridge. It bridges the gap between the mundane and the monumental. It’s a way of saying that time isn't just a sequence of minutes, but a collection of significant tallies.
Next time you see a "score" in a text or a speech, don't just think "20." Think about the notches on a shepherd's stick. Think about the 87 years that stood between the birth of a country and its greatest trial. Most importantly, think about how a single, well-chosen word can echo for centuries.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the rhetoric of the era, check out Ronald C. White’s The Eloquent President. It’s a fantastic look at how Lincoln crafted his voice. Or, honestly, just go re-read the 272 words of the Gettysburg Address. It’ll take you two minutes, and it’s a masterclass in saying a lot with very little.