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From: kriha_p@actrix.gen.nz (Paul J. Kriha)
Subject: Re: Amounts of words in English and French
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Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 14:14:26 GMT
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In article <45sl39$iuv$1@mhafc.production.compuserve.com>,
   Subotai Jebe Barca <102337.112@CompuServe.COM> wrote:
>Don't know if it's true, but I once read an estimate that
>the total number of words in English is roughly equal to
>the number of words in French, German and Russian
>combined.

That's because English collects words like
little boy butterflies.    :-)
It can't make her own ones up.

Most of the words in French, German and Russian
dictionaries are French, German and Russian respectively,
while most of the words in an English dictionary
are unashamedly foreign.

I just opened one dictionary at random. I see a couple
of hundred words from Krishna to kyat and not a single
one is English, (well perhaps Ku Klux Klan?).

Paul JK


