Words in English = 1 million

[Grant Barrett]

Payack is a hack with an appetite for inventing numbers and a knack
for getting gullible press and public to swallow his rubbish as if it
were dessert. He has zero credibility. His methods are imaginary, his
results are only specious, and his conclusions baseless. He is no more
in touch with what is truly happening in the English language than I
am in touch with bug-eyed monsters from a planet circling Aldebaran.

If anyone ever needed more evidence that the employment rolls of the
popular press are riddled with dim sorts educated beyond their
intelligence and empowered beyond their abilities, then that, perhaps,
is the only useful thing that Payack has demonstrated by suckering
them into reporting on his ridiculous claims.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
113 Park Place, Apt. 3
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(646) 286-2260

On Mar 30, 2008, at 23:02, Tom Zurinskas wrote:

> from  http://www.languagemonitor.com/wst_page7.html
>
> The Number of Words in the English Language
>
> By Paul JJ Payack, President & The WordMan, Global Language Monitor
>
> Methodology:  The Global Language Monitor has attempted to pinpoint
> the precise number of words in the English Language at a given point
> in time. To do so, it first established a base number of words in
> the language using the generally accepted unabridged dictionaries
> (the O.E.D., Merriam-Webster's*, Macquarie's, etc.), that contain
> the historic 'core' of the English language: every word found in the
> works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, Chaucer, and the other
> 'classics'.
>
> GLM then created a proprietary algorithm, the Predictive Quantities
> Indicator (PQI) that attempts to measure  the language as currently
> found in print (including technical and scientific journals), the
> electronic media (transcripts from radio and television), on the
> Internet and, increasingly, in web logs (blogs).
>
> The Global Language Monitor's proprietary algorithm, the Predictive
> Quantities Indicator tracks the frequency of words and phrases in
> the global print and electronic media, on the Internet, throughout
> the Blogosphere, as well as accessing proprietary databases
> (Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, etc.).  For more information on the PQI, go
> here.
>
> GLM then assigned a number to the rate of creation of new words and
> the adoption and absorption of foreign vocabulary into the language.
> The result, though an estimate, has been found to be quite useful as
> a starting point of the discussion for lay persons, students, and
> scholars the world over.
>
> This all being said, I now unequivocally state that as of 1:16 pm
> (Pacific) on the 22nd day of September (the autumnal equinox) in the
> year 2007 AD (or CE, whatever your preference), there were
> approximately 995,112 words in the English Language, plus or minus a
> handful.
>
> Choose well among them.
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org