The Gallimaufry: Indeterminite Numbers

Indeterminite Numbers

eleventeen: I'm not sure how large this number is, but I'm pretty sure it is between 11 and 21 inclusive. Nominally used to mean any absurd use of a specific number. e.g. "I had to enter a product activation code of 'A ampersand g g L P 7 eleventeen something..."
umpteen: This number is relatively small (usually under 30). It is used in conjunction with a specific task (or task iteration). e.g. "I told you for the umpteenth time - 'No swimming with the sharks!'"
thirty-twelve: I've never used this number, nor have I ever hear it be used. It may be regional. It refers to an indeterminute number between 30 and 59. e.g. "Age the pizza for thirty-twelve days in the frigde before throwing it out."
fourty: Probably the only legally specific non-real number. I've made out many a check for this amount. e.g. "Pay to the order of DishNetwork; Fourty dollars and 84/100."
oodle: This is interesting, as it functions like a single-name 'place-holder number' (dozen, hundred, thousand, million). You may have "oodles of puppies", but you cannot have "an oodle of puppies" or "half an oodle of puppies". So it may never exist in a singular, or fractional form. Unlike 'plethora', oodle does not have a connotation of excess. e.g. "I have oodles of trading cards, but you have a plethora."
zillion: Any incomprehensibly large number. For a five-year-old $100 is about equal to "a zillion dollars". For an average adult, this number is certainly greater than 100,000... but it depends on context. e.g. "That company charges zillions if you want them to consult.
bazillion: More than a zillion... possibly as small as 2 zillion.
(can also be spelled bizillion or bahzillion [rare].)
gazillion: Larger than 'bazillion' probably by at least 2 degrees of magnitude. e.g. Algeria's national debt is like umpteen gazillion dollars.
(can also be spelled gahzillion [rare].)
trazillion: Larger even than 'gazillion' (again) by about a factor of 100. This variant is very rare. [specifically, it is 3 degrees of magnitude more rare] e.g. Algeria's national debt is like umpteen gazillion dollars.
(can also be spelled trizillion [rare].)
quadzillion: This is getting silly. I will also include in this definition "quintzillion". While I'm at it - I'm going to make up "sexzillion" and "heptzillion"; neither of which exist as of C.E. 2002 but will probably crop up as the need for mind-bogglingly-seeming large indeterminite number increases.

Mathematics or comparisons of any sort are nigh impossible (n/0) with these numbers.

These "numbers" are English constructs, not mathematical ones. I personally wish they didn't exist. Hyperbole can just as easily be achieved with actual numbers, though it is easier to spot hyperbole with invented numbers.

I'm also not sure if the sequence is "zillion, bazillion, trazillion" or "zillion, trazillion, bazillion".

Indeterminite Numbers

Document Last Modified: Flirsday, the Eleventeenth of Septober, 2002 01:20:19 CST