With all of the talk of big numbers in the budget and the bailout, it can be tough to maintain a sense of scale. Though the difference between a thousand and a million is very clear to me, the difference between a billion and a trillion is tough to grasp. Here’s an illustration of the progression from $100 up to $1T. It’s surprising how little space that a million dollars takes up, and the gap between a billion and a trillion is particularly amazing.
You’ve probably heard the statement famously made by Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) that comprises the title of this blog entry. Unfortunately, as with so many great quips, Dirksen probably never actually said it. But don’t let that stop you from employing it—it’s a perfectly cromulent phrase.
Just thinking of this has embiggened me.
I guess it would have been better to say that your post has embiggened my soul.
TMI.
“cromulent”?!?!?
Congratulations, Waldo. Had to look up that one.
The controversy over the statements reminds of the line from the movie Patton, when a reporter asked the general if he had said “If I were surrounded by the Nazis and the Russians, I’d order an attack in both directions.” The response (in the movie): “No, I never said that. I never said any such thing. But I wish I had.”
This is one of those turns of phrase where, if he didn’t say it, he should have.