Indefinite and fictitious large numbers
Encyclopedia
The English language has a number of words for indefinite and fictitious numbers — inexact terms of indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder name
s, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. One technical term for such words is "non-numerical vague quantifier".
, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. Despite the -teen ending, which would seem to indicate that it lies between 12 and 20, umpteen can be used in ways implying it is much larger than that—if it ever could be pinned down.
According to one dictionary, the word is derived from the slang ump(ty), a dash in Morse code
(of imitative origin), plus -teen.
by analogy to names of large numbers
such as million, billion and trillion. Their size is dependent upon the context, but can typically be considered large enough to be unfathomable.
These terms are often used as hyperbole
or for comic effect, or in loose, unconfined conversation
to present an un-guessably large number. Since these are undefined, they have no mathematical validity and no accepted order, since none is necessarily larger or smaller than any of the others.
The "-illion" concept is so well established that it is the basis of a joke, in which a speaker misunderstands the word Brazil
ian (being from the nation of Brazil) as an enormous number called "brazillion".
Many similar words are used, such as bajillion
, bazillion,
dillion,
fantillion,
gadzillion,
gagillion,
gajillion,
godzillion (a reference to the colossal Japanese fictional monster
),
gorillion,
hojillion,
kabillion,
kajillion,
katrillion,
killion,
robillion,
skillion,
squillion, ridicullion,
and
umptillion.
These words can be transformed into ordinal numbers
or fractions
by the usual pattern of appending the suffix -th, e.g., "I asked her for the zillionth time."
. It is named in honor of Carl Sagan
who was often mocked for saying that there were "billions and billions" of them. This number is perfectly well defined, since we know what star
s are and what the observable universe
is, but its value is not known with any certainty (it is presently estimated to be approximately 70 sextillion (short scale)).
Sagan's number is unrelated to the bogus sagan unit or the humorous use of the term "sagan" to denote any large quantity.
Placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names are either temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown in the context in which they are being discussed...
s, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. One technical term for such words is "non-numerical vague quantifier".
General placeholder names
English has many words whose definition includes an indefinite quantity, such as "lots", "many", "plenty", "several", and "some". A number of other words have been used to convey the idea in informal or humorous ways, including:- buckets
- bunch, as in "a whole bunch of..."
- a bit or a little bit
- couple-few, coupla-few or couple-three
- eleventy-; e.g., "eleventy-four". Also stated as "forty-leven." Occasionally used to mean 110110 (number)110 is the natural number following 109 and preceding 111.It is also known as "eleventy", a term made famous by linguist and author J. R. R...
. - gobs of
- a grip
- a gang
- hella
- loads (e.g.; truckloads, busloads, boatloads, etc.)
- heaps
- mess (as in "a mess of fish")
- metric ton or metric load
- n-somethingEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Used especially to indicate someone's age within a decade, e.g., twentysomething. - oodles
- scads
- tons
- wad
Umpteen
Umpteen is a term for an unspecified but reasonably large numberNumber
A number is a mathematical object used to count and measure. In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers....
, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. Despite the -teen ending, which would seem to indicate that it lies between 12 and 20, umpteen can be used in ways implying it is much larger than that—if it ever could be pinned down.
According to one dictionary, the word is derived from the slang ump(ty), a dash in Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
(of imitative origin), plus -teen.
-illion
Words ending in the sound "-illion", most commonly zillion, jillion,, gadzillion and gazillion, are often used as fictitious names for an unspecified, large numberNumber
A number is a mathematical object used to count and measure. In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers....
by analogy to names of large numbers
Names of large numbers
This article lists and discusses the usage and derivation of names of large numbers, together with their possible extensions.The following table lists those names of large numbers which are found in many English dictionaries and thus have a special claim to being "real words"...
such as million, billion and trillion. Their size is dependent upon the context, but can typically be considered large enough to be unfathomable.
These terms are often used as hyperbole
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
or for comic effect, or in loose, unconfined conversation
Conversation
Conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people who are following rules of etiquette.Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational...
to present an un-guessably large number. Since these are undefined, they have no mathematical validity and no accepted order, since none is necessarily larger or smaller than any of the others.
The "-illion" concept is so well established that it is the basis of a joke, in which a speaker misunderstands the word Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian (being from the nation of Brazil) as an enormous number called "brazillion".
Many similar words are used, such as bajillion
, bazillion,
dillion,
fantillion,
gadzillion,
gagillion,
gajillion,
godzillion (a reference to the colossal Japanese fictional monster
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
),
gorillion,
hojillion,
kabillion,
kajillion,
katrillion,
killion,
robillion,
skillion,
squillion, ridicullion,
and
umptillion.
These words can be transformed into ordinal numbers
Ordinal number (linguistics)
In linguistics, ordinal numbers are the words representing the rank of a number with respect to some order, in particular order or position . Its use may refer to size, importance, chronology, etc...
or fractions
Fraction (mathematics)
A fraction represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, we specify how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, five-eighths and three-quarters.A common or "vulgar" fraction, such as 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, etc., consists...
by the usual pattern of appending the suffix -th, e.g., "I asked her for the zillionth time."
Well-defined numbers that are not precisely known
Sagan's number is the number of stars in the observable universeObservable universe
In Big Bang cosmology, the observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that we can in principle observe from Earth in the present day, because light from those objects has had time to reach us since the beginning of the cosmological expansion...
. It is named in honor of Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
who was often mocked for saying that there were "billions and billions" of them. This number is perfectly well defined, since we know what star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s are and what the observable universe
Observable universe
In Big Bang cosmology, the observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that we can in principle observe from Earth in the present day, because light from those objects has had time to reach us since the beginning of the cosmological expansion...
is, but its value is not known with any certainty (it is presently estimated to be approximately 70 sextillion (short scale)).
Sagan's number is unrelated to the bogus sagan unit or the humorous use of the term "sagan" to denote any large quantity.
See also
- List of unusual units of measurement
- List of humorous units of measurement
- Powers of 10Powers of 10In mathematics, a power of ten is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times. By definition, the number one is a power of ten. The first few powers of ten are:...
- Names of large numbersNames of large numbersThis article lists and discusses the usage and derivation of names of large numbers, together with their possible extensions.The following table lists those names of large numbers which are found in many English dictionaries and thus have a special claim to being "real words"...
- GoogolGoogolA googol is the large number 10100, that is, the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros:The term was coined in 1938 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta , nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner...
- Googolplex
- Inherently funny wordInherently funny wordWords may be considered inherently funny, for reasons ranging from onomatopoeia to phonosemantics. Such words have been used by a range of influential comedians, including W. C...