On Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:44:04 +0100, Michael Kuettner wrote:

> "Gorio" schrieb :
>>
>>
>> English just added it's one millionth word. I don't know what it is; but
>> you can bet it's some chemical.
>>
>> By comparison, Italian has 250-350,000, Mandarin Chinese, 500,000. We
>> got a lot of syntax to figure out.
>>
>
> "English doesn't borrow from other languages.
> English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over,
> and goes through their pockets for loose grammar."
> (Mark Twain ?)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Michael Kuettner

according to wikipedia:

"The Purity of the English Language"

In 1990, in the Usenet group rec.arts.sf-lovers, Nicoll wrote the following
epigram on the English language:

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.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Nicoll>

your pal,
blake