(2019 Nov blog post)

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'The overused, vague word "countless"'

! Note !
More text and examples may be added
--- if/when I re-visit this page.

INTRODUCTION : Almost every day, I read a newspaper or magazine article in which the word 'countless' is used. Also, you will hear the word 'countless' used frequently on TV shows, such as news/opinion shows. The word is often used as if it means 'infinite' --- or it would take 'more than a lifetime' to count --- when in many cases it refers to numbers that may be in the hundreds or thousands. For example, you may see a sentence that starts "Countless people ...". The impression conveyed is that the sentence is referring to a 'near-infinite' number of people when, in many cases, the writer has simply not taken the time to get a count (or a rough estimate) of the number of people being referred to. We know that there are about 8 billion people on Earth (in 2019), so right away we know that 'countless', in this case, must mean less than 8 billion people. And in many of these cases, we find that the 'countless' people being referred to may be on the order of 'a hundred' or 'a thousand' --- and,in some cases, less than 'a few dozen'. (Examples to follow.) A dictionary gives the meaning of 'countless' as 'too numerous to count' or 'innumerable'. Let us note that if you were counting things (people or whatever), and if you could count one item per second (even when we get into the trillions and beyond --- say by clicking a handheld counter device), then the following would be the times required. Count to 100 (1 min 40 secs) Count to 1,000 (10 mins 400 secs = 16 mins 40 secs) where 400 secs = 6 mins 40 secs Count to 10,000 (160 mins 400 secs = 2 hrs 46 mins 40 secs) roughly 3 hours Count to 100,000 (20 hrs 460 mins 400 secs = 27 hrs 46 mins 40 secs) a little more than one day Count to one million (270 hrs 460 mins 400 secs = 277 hrs 46 mins 40 secs) a little more than 10 days (which is 240 hours) Count to 10 million a little more than 100 days Count to 100 million a little more than 1,000 days or 2.74 years Count to one billion roughly 10,000 days or 28 years So we could count to a thousand in less than 10 minutes 100 thousand in about one day a million in about 10 days 10 million in less than a year --- far less than the typical lifetime of a human. To turn up examples of the use of the word 'countless', you can do a WEB SEARCH on keywords such as 'newspaper article countless' OR 'breaking news countless' Some Examples (and alternative, more informative phrasings) Example 1: One of the first 'hits' I got with the WEB SEARCHES above was the sentence: Trump's countless scams are finally catching up with him. If we assume that Trump can commit no more than about 2 scams per day (ON AVERAGE), then over a period of about 50 years of his adult life, we can estimate that he committed on the order of 50 years x 365 days/year x 2 scams/day = 36,500 scams So an alternative (more instructive) way to present the sentence above would be to say: Trump's roughly 36,500 scams are finally catching up with him. Don't you agree that this gives a much more instructive sentence? Less ambiguity. Example 2: Another 'hit' that I got with the WEB SEARCHES above was the title of an article: Countless volunteers made 'Back to School Bash' possible This was an article about the city of Georgetown, Kentucky --- population about 35,000. Even if every person in the city was a voluteer for that 'bash', you could count to 35,000 in about 8 hours. That number is NOT 'too numerous to count' or 'innumerable'. In fact the number was probably less than 100. Let us say the number was 76. So an alternative (more instructive) way to present the title above would be: About 75 volunteers made 'Back to School Bash' possible Example 3: Another 'hit' that I got with the WEB SEARCHES above was the title of an article: The Countless Ways Poverty Affects People's Health Now one could probably come up with tens of thousands of various diseases and conditions that would adversely affect someone's health. But when a doctor goes to bill you for a medical visit, there are about 100 to 1,000 medical codes he can use to bill your insurance company. And if you were to list many ill-health conditions, you would probably use somewhat general terms like diabetes, pneumonia, infections, etc. You would not use the Latin names of every microbe that could kill you --- nor every variety of kidney disease or lung condition that is known. Wouldn't you stop after listing a few hundred ill-health conditions? So an alternative (more instructive) way to present the title above would be: The Hundreds of Ways Poverty Affects People's Health In Conclusion: I may add more examples if I ever re-visit this page. I see examples almost every day in my local newspaper --- such as 'countless homes', 'countless laws', 'countless numbers of credit cards' --- all of these with 'upper bounds' of less than 8 billion. All of these 'numerable'. I am sure you can find examples daily --- in your local newspaper, in the magazines you read, and in the TV shows that you watch. Note that the word 'hundreds' or 'thousands' --- or an estimate that is 'less than 8 billion' --- will almost invariably be more informative than the word 'countless'. Hey, media people out there. Please start using better, more informative alternatives for the word 'countless'.

Bottom of this web page on the word "countless" --- being overused and mis-used. There are better, more specific, and more informative alternatives to use. To return to a previously visited web page location, click on the Back button of your web browser, a sufficient number of times. OR, use the History-list option of your web browser. OR ... < Go to Top of Page, above. > Or you can scroll up, to the top of this page. Page history: Page was posted 2019 Nov 25.