Linguistic anthropologist Stephen Chrisomalis researches the world of indefinite hyperbolic numbers, highlighting their origins and ambiguity.

What?

Come on.  You know what these are.

Umpteen, zillion, trillion – ever used those words before?  If so, you’ve used an indefinite hyperbolic number.

Well I think Dr Chrisomalis is a rather interesting guy.  But I’ll leave it up to you to read more about him if you wish.

In discovering his work, what it really prompted me to think about is this … how often do we each make our communication clear?  Where have we opened the door to unhelpfully let ambiguity take a foothold?  How might we be clearer in our speech?

What’s sitting in that gazillion of a lexicon of words available to you that you might put to better effect tomorrow?  Perhaps in a difficult conversation you know you need to have with a colleague?  Maybe in sharing a message with your team?  Always in being honest, and assertive, and consistent.

I don’t want to put words into your mouth, but …