So, what in the world is umpteenth?
Why isn't 40 spelled fourty??ÿ
It is in all english speaking countries other than the US.
No.?ÿ Well, at least not for the last 400 years or so.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-it-forty-or-fourty
So, what in the world is umpteenth?
The penultimate occasion.?ÿ May be greater than 1000.?ÿ Mother:?ÿ "Stop leaving your socks on the floor.?ÿ This is the umpteenth time I've told you.?ÿ If I have to tell you again, it will be the last thing you ever hear."
penultimate
No, not necessarily. I think it is just an arbitrary number which implies larger than the speaker thinks it should have been.
According to Merriam-Webster 40 has been spelled?ÿforty throughout the English speaking world since the 16th century.?ÿFourty?ÿis considered obsolete.
Daniel Webster dropped the extraneous U in the U.S. spelling of many English words (such as?ÿcolour). Interestingly?ÿforty was not one of these words.
English also has different pronunciations of?ÿough:
Cough
Through
Rough
penultimate
No, not necessarily. I think it is just an arbitrary number which implies larger than the speaker thinks it should have been.
I agree.?ÿ I was speaking tongue-in-cheek.?ÿ As soon as I read umpteenth I heard my dear mother's voice in my mind.
Umpteen is smaller than a kazillion.
