Both terms share their roots in the Classical Latin centenarius, meaning hundredlike, but the quintal has a convoluted etymology: It became Late Latin centenarium pondus, then in succession, Byzantine Greek ÎºÎµÎ½ÏÎ·Î½Î¬ÏÎ¹Î¿Î½ (kentenarion) and Arabic qintar ÙÙØ·Ø§Ø±.
If your air filter gets too dirty or clogged, your engine won't be able to suck enough air into the combustion chambers. The engine will then run rich (i.e., too much gas and not enough air). When this happens, your car will lose power and run roughly. Your Check Engine light also may come on. If you really neglect the air filter for a long time, your car may stop running altogether. While permanent damage is unlikely, it is possible. If an air filter were sufficiently dirty and damaged, it could allow harmful, abrasive contaminants into the combustion chamber.
Let's say that your engine has plenty of oil, but you never change it. Two things will definitely happen: Dirt will accumulate in the oil. The filter will remove the dirt for a while, but eventually the filter will clog and the dirty oil will automatically bypass the filter through a relief valve.