General Placeholder Names
English has many words whose definition includes an indefinite quantity, such as "lots", "many", "plenty", "several", and "some". A number of other words have been used to convey the idea in informal or humorous ways, such as "gobs of "(e.g., "gobs of jobs" career fair); and n-something, used especially to indicate someone's age within a decade, e.g., twentysomething.
Read more about this topic: Indefinite And Fictitious Numbers
Famous quotes containing the words general and/or names:
“At Hayes’ General Store, west of the cemetery, hangs an old army rifle, used by a discouraged Civil War veteran to end his earthly troubles. The grocer took the rifle as payment ‘on account.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“You shall see men you never heard of before, whose names you don’t know,... and many other wild and noble sights before night, such as they who sit in parlors never dream of.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)