umpteen
I picked this word just because I like it. And I didn’t want to do an “un” u word. I’ve actually struggled to choose my words sometimes during this undertaking (another u word I could have picked). I’ve even downloaded a crossword-helping app that provides lists of words by letter (although umpteenth I thought up on my own). I spent forever picking an f word (briefly considered THE f word…not that I can really say it very well) and k gave me fits too (yes, I read the whole k words list and then picked “kitty”).
The thing is, I want to both like the word AND have something to say about it. I really love the word “quaff” but when it came q time, I just had to admit I had nothing to say about it…as it’s a word used mostly to describe drinks of coffee and ale – two things I despise. And, now, there are lots of “un” words that could get me going, but I don’t want to use one. I guess because they don’t really seem like true u words. They’re really the words after the prefix, only with a funny hat. A really negative funny hat. And I’ve already prattled on about my feelings on negativity.
But anyway, about u. Umpteen. What a funny word. If it is a word. I looked it up on Wikipedia. Did you know they have a whole entry for “indefinite and fictitious numbers”? Yep. Umpteen is in there – as well as zillion, eleventy and twentysomething. Here’s what they have to say about umpteen:
A term for an unspecified but reasonably large number, used in 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.
Oh Wikipedia, so unselfconsciously earnest. Here’s a list of things I would say I have done umpteen times:
•misspelled the word equipment. Seriously. I can never get it right. It might not have been a huge deal in life except that I used to work as a sign-maker. It’s weird how many signs there are out there in the world that say something about equipment.
•forgotten to pay my trash bill. I don’t know why. Mental block. So much so that just the sound of a garbage truck driving by will make me feel panicky.
•driven I-44 from Springfield to Lebanon (or vice versa). This is actually how the word umpteen occurred to me…driving that road tonight and realizing I didn’t remember anything from Sampson/Sparkle Brook Road (what a magical-sounding exit, right?) to Strafford. Not even the mysterious split in the road that two friends and I once explored (a story for another time. Maybe next month since it’s Christmas-themed).
•flossed
•made plans to learn to drive a stick/play the ukulele (another u!)/manage my eyebrows. Will 2012 be the year? Like umpteen, I refuse to be pinned down.
