# umpty in place of dash

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpty-in-place-of-dash/110039>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [May 21, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpty-in-place-of-dash/110039 "2002-05-21T02:58:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpty-in-place-of-dash/110039/1 "2002-05-21T02:58:20Z")

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SDSTAFF _Dogster_ did a nice job in writing [What is the origin of umpteen?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mumpteen.html) The humor was worthy of a Cecil.

One point which might not have been clear from a cursory reading of the column was the statement

> [@](#):
>
> “As ‘umpty’ means ‘dash,’ it is fairly evident that . . . ‘umpteen’ (or ‘umteen’) which means ‘any number of times,’ comes from this source.”

It would help a reader to know that _umpty_ was a military slang word for a “dash” in Morse code First used in 1905.

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**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpty-in-place-of-dash/110039/2 "2002-05-21T14:17:58Z")

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Hey, that’s cool! Thanks for the info, samclem. That one flew right past me when I read the column.  
RR