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June 03, 2004
Quote of the Day
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
- James D. Nicoll
Posted by irena at June 3, 2004 02:43 AM
Comments
Too true, the English language is a fine bastard.
Irena, check out www.irritantnumber4.com -- your blog got some PUB today :)
Posted by: Walker at June 4, 2004 08:56 AM
English has 1,000,000 words including 500,000 or so which are thought to be uncategorized scientific terms. Enlish has borrowed from 120 different languages and 80 percent of the words you are likely to see in a dictionary are borrowed.
Other modern languages like French have around 85,000 words kjust to demonstrate the massive disperity in size
Posted by: Tony at June 6, 2004 10:06 AM