Breaking News English

There is a [phrase / phrasal] in English when someone gets a big salary that they earn "telephone numbers". A man in New York is [sued / suing] the city (and others) for so much that it is almost [impossibility / impossible] to think of a [comparison / compare] . Anton Purisima, 62, is suing for two undecillion. Over 99.99 per cent of English speakers would not know or have [hearing / heard] of the word for this amount. That [astronomical / astronomy] figure is two undecillion dollars – a two [follows / followed] by 36 zeros. The only people who are likely to [needy / need] this word are probably astrophysicists and astronomers. Two undecillion dollars is, in [fact / act] , more than all the money in the whole world. Even more than all the wealth created throughout humankind's [entire / entirely] history.

So what did New York City do so wrong to be [suing / sued] for such a mind-bogglingly gargantuan [some / sum] ? Quite a lot, it seems. The New York Post reports that Mr Purisima is suing the city (as well [has / as] two local hospitals, LaGuardia Airport, the [transportation / transporting] system, a bakery and even a dog owner) for "civil-rights violations, [private / personal] injury, discrimination in national [original / origin] , retaliation, harassment, fraud, [attempted / tried] murder, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy to defraud". Why? Well, it's because last month a "rabies-infected" dog [bite / bit] his finger on a city bus; then, a "Chinese couple" took photos of him [within / without] asking; and to add insult to [injury / injured] , he is routinely overcharged for coffee at LaGuardia Airport.