three R's

plural noun

1. reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, regarded as the fundamentals of education.
2. the fundamentals, basic knowledge, or skills of any system or field:

   the three R's of good government.

three Rs

plural noun

1. the three Rs
   the three skills regarded as the fundamentals of education; reading, writing, and arithmetic

Word History and Origins

Origin of three R's¹

First recorded in 1820–30

Word History and Origins

Origin of three R's¹

from the humorous spelling reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic

Idioms and Phrases

The fundamentals of education, as in It's a terrible school; the children are not even taught the three R's . It is widely believed that Sir William Curtis, an alderman who became Lord Mayor of London, once presented a toast to the three R's—reading, riting, and rithmetic—thereby betraying his illiteracy. In any event, the term was picked up by others and so used from the early 1800s on.

Example Sentences

And that there are really three ‘Rs’ involved in deciding how Labour’s new deal for workers will be delivered – Reynolds and Rayner, who are fronting the talks, and Reeves who is determined that the party’s pledge to be "pro business" as well as "pro worker" will be honoured.

From BBC

Melissa: I think we also need, in this conversation, a return to the first two of the three Rs that many of us learned in school: reduce and reuse when you can.

From Seattle Times

“It gets you thinking ... do we really need all this stuff we have? We want this to be a living museum, and walking through the house you can really find the three Rs of sustainability — reduce, repair and recycle, reuse or remake,” says Hori.

From Los Angeles Times

When asked to rank the Three Rs — "reduce, reuse, recycle" — in order of effectiveness, nearly half of people got the answer wrong.

From Salon

Music may be as essential to their education as the “three Rs” of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

From Seattle Times