Learn English – “Thousands of thousands” vs. “Thousands upon thousands”

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Is "thousands of thousands" grammatically correct? Why does it seem that "thousands upon thousands" sounds better, even though the former is closer to the logical truth? Is there any difference at all?

Best Answer

I realize this is an English language question site, but to answer this question in terms of math:

"Thousands of thousands" = 1000 x 1000 (or more)
"Thousands upon thousands" = A x 1000 (where A is any relatively small number)

So in simple terms, "thousands of thousands" is a lot more than "thousands upon thousands", although I do agree with you the latter does sound better.

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