Are there too many words?

[Gromit]

The English Language is about to get its 1,000.000th word.

The average person uses less than 14,000 words. That leaves a lot of redundant words.

French and German have about a 10th of what we have.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews /5493366/One-millionth-English-word-to-be-unve iled.html

Should we have a purge and ban anymore stupid words like 'noob' or 'chiconomics'?

[R1Geezer]

Gromit:
"You must be a slow learner. The English language no longer belongs to the English or England"

Bowlocks, others borrow it, we own it!

[Gromit]

does the pertinacious engag� in this disquisition have maleficent , tendentious , AnglĪmaniacal , 7 o.p. chauvanistic , suid� ingravescent schema?

Exactement!

[jno]

you own a language? How does that work, then? You charge foreigners for using it?

If anyone owns it, it's the Americans, who keep it going and frequently add to it. If it hadn't been for them we'd all be speaking German.

[R1Geezer]

Why don't you lefties just pi55 off to a country you like, you obviously hate it here, you never mis an opportunity to slag the place off, I'd move if I where you guys, surely you owe yourselves a break from this torture. I've heard Cuba is still practising Communism, you'll love it there, Castro lives in a council house apparently!

[Quizmonster]

Jno, I'd say it's vastly more likely that we'd be speaking Russian rather than German, if the Americans had not (finally) stepped into World War II.
Mind you, they never thank us for the indubitable fact that - if it hadn't been for the major British involvement in settling America - they would now be speaking French or Dutch!

[jno]

a fair point, Quizmonster. On the whole, I'd sooner speak German, if only for the opportunity to use words like Hottentottenpotentatentantenattentat, which I am assured is an attempt on the life of the aunt of a Hottentot potentate.

A million English words and still nothing to cover a situation like that. Incidentally, I see the definition of a 'word' in question requires it to be used in written form 25,000 times - in which case I wonder if words such as 'definately' have been included?

[Quizmonster]

J, I remember reading as a kid - many a year ago! - that the longest known swear-word was along the lines of Himmelherrgottkreuzmillionendonnerwetter, if my memory is correct. I'd have thought one would have calmed down by the time one got it all out.
Nah...I think I'll stick with English!