Umpteen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Umpteen is a term for an unspecified but large number, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. Generally, it refers to the number of times something has happened, rather than to a number of objects. Since many people use the word in a facetious manner, it is not considered a scientifically or mathetically useful term.
Despite the -teen ending, which would seem to indicate that it lies between 12 and 20, umpteen is often assumed to be much larger than this—if it ever could be pinned down.
The word is apparently derived from the slang ump(ty), a dash in Morse code (of imitative origin), plus -teen. A derived term using the same root is umpty-ump.
Contents |
[edit] Umpteen and n
Umpteen shares a relationship with n, which in mathematics means any natural number. The terms umpteenth and nth both mean repeated for an unknown number of times, though umpteenth would likely be of greater magnitude, often implying that the repetition has become tedious.
[edit] Popular culture
The cleaning material brand Mr. Sheen uses the term in the slogan, "Mr. Sheen shines umpteen things clean!"; In Amazing Fantasy #15, a girl says to Peter Parker after he asks her out, "For the umpteenth time, you're just not my type." As Flash Thompson walks by, the girl continues, "especially when dreamboats like Flash Thompson are around!"
[edit] Other slang numbers
A number of other tongue-in-cheek slang terms connote even larger, but equally uncertain, numbers. Most are constructed by placing a letter or nonsense syllable before the suffix -illion — e.g., 'zillion.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- How Many is Umpteen?: A Linguistic and Mathematical Exploration and Explanation
