Chrysti The Wordsmith: Omnibus - 2

Hi this is Christie the wordsmith. When we don't know the name for something we often use a standin word like do hickey thingamabob or digger Marie. These handy polysyllables called on the bus terms fill in when the proper words are misplaced or unknown. The same thing happens when we talk about large but unknown numerical quantities. Consider skillion go zillion and a jillion these mythical numbers exaggerate quantity such rogue terms are of course imitations of the more respectable million billion and trillion. And what can we say about such on a bus terms as oodles scads slew and gobs of course like zillion and its illegitimate relatives. These terms denote substantial but nebulous quantities. Unfortunately the etymologies of these words are hazy. Take for example Americans have been using this term to suggest a large amount since about 1870 but no one can point to its origin. Ditto for gobs. Meaning a great but uncounted

quantity. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the origin of the term scads is unknown but Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests scads derives from a British English dialectal term scrawled meaning a multitude SCAD was first seen in American English in 1869. From Montana State University in Bozeman. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good Dave herbivores. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry Web dot com.