English Language to Top 1 Million Words
7th May 2009
The number of words in the English language will soon top 1
million, experts predict.
Experts at the Texas based Global Language Monitor have been
tracking changes in the language since 2003 and predict English
will reach the 1 million mark on June 10th 2009.
Once the group identifies a word, its impact on culture and
depth of use is measured before it is approved as a new word.
English is spoken by 1.53 billon people worldwide and experts
predict that the millionth word will most likely come from India or
China, rather than the USA or the UK. One famous contributor to the
development of new words was former US President George W. Bush who
brought us such gems as 'misunderestimate' and 'strategery'.
Words tipped to take the crown of the millionth English word
include 'greenwashing' a word used by environmentalists to describe
groups which mislead the public and 'noob' a computer gamer's term
for a new player.
English is different in that it absorbs words like no other
language,' said GLM's chief word analyst Paul Payack.
'But despite having a million words at our disposal it is
unlikely we will use more than just a fraction of them.'
Here are a couple of our favourites we think are worthy of
inclusion:
CHINPLE, n.: "A dimple situated in the center of the chin, as
sported by John Travolta".
VEGEMUTATION, n.: "a weed that keeps coming back, no matter what
you do to it."