Other descriptions of this concept include: "non-numerical vague quantifier"[1] and "indefinite hyperbolic numerals".
[2] Umpteen, umteen or umpty[3] is 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.
The oldest reference to "umpty" — in a June 17, 1848 issue of the Louisville Morning Courier — indicates that at that time it was slang for empty.
[4] This is confirmed by a humorous short story in the North Carolina Hillsborough Recorder of June 30, 1852.
[13] Words with the suffix -illion (e.g., zillion,[14] gazillion,[15] bazillion,[16] jillion,[17] bajillion,[18] squillion,[19] and others) are often used as informal names for unspecified large numbers by analogy to names of large numbers such as million (106), billion (109) and trillion (1012).
In Estonian, the compound word mustmiljon ("black million") is used to mean an unfathomably large number.
In Hungarian, csilliárd is used[citation needed] in the same "indefinitely large number" sense as "zillion" in English, and is thought to be a humorous portmanteau of the words csillag ("star", referring to the vast number of stars) and milliárd ("billion", cf.
These words are intended to denote a number that is large enough to be unfathomable and are typically used as hyperbole or for comic effect.
In Chinese, 十萬八千里; 十万八千里; shí wàn bā qiān lǐ, 108,000 li, means a great distance.
In Danish, hundrede og sytten ("a hundred and seventeen") can mean any arbitrary number.