trillion
n.— «NBA TRILLIONAIRES: When an end-of-the-bench guy gets in a blowout for a minute, and doesn’t record a shot, rebound, assist or point, his boxscore line is known as “one trillion,” a one followed by nine zeroes. Imagine how it looked to Chicago’s Chris Duhon when he recorded an unheard of 10 trillion against the Utah Jazz. Yep, 10 minutes of nothing. No shots, no fouls, no rebounds, no assists, nada. Of course, Duhon’s shooting 39 per cent from the field and had made just two of his last 30 shots so maybe it’s not surprising. What else isn’t surprising is that he’s been replaced in the rotation by rookie Thabo Sefolosha.» —“All-star voters snub Nash” by Doug Smith The Star (Toronto, Canada) June 26, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...