etymology - Where did the word "umpteenth" come from?


Where did the word "umpteenth" come from, and why is it a "teen", if it is supposed to represent a very large number?



Answer



Umpteenth comes from umpty, meaning an indefinite number. Etymology Online says "umpty" is derived from "Morse code slang for "dash," influenced by association with numerals such as twenty, thirty, etc."


And I think the "teenth" insert is to make the "th" easier to pronounce for the ordinal formation, but it might be also to add emphasis by way of lengthening the word. Also, it might be because of the teen/ten connection I mentioned in my comment above: an indefinite number of tens.


And this source suggests that Morse code slang word "ump" is imitative in origin, so I gather that means that that's what a dash sounds like in Morse code.


It occurred to me that this means something like _th times, then, or the equivalent of nth times (to the nth degree?)—although a single dash is Morse code for T.


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