Posted on 04/17/2005 6:27:01 AM PDT by jimtorr
Our Abounding English Language
By Richard Lederer
English boasts by far the largest vocabulary of all languages, almost four times the number of words as its nearest competitor, German. As a result, English possesses a plethora of synonyms that allow greater nuances of meaning than are available in other tongues.
The multitudinous choice of words in English offers both a delightful and daunting challenge to native and non-native speakers. In Sophie's Choice, the heroine, Polish-born Sophie, expresses mock horror at the infinite variety of English words:
"Such a language! . . . Too many words. I mean just the word for velocite. I mean fast. Rapid. Quick. All the same thing! A scandal!"
"Swift?" I added.
"How about speedy?" Nathan asked.
"Hasty?" I went on.
"And fleet?" Nathan said. "Though that's a bit fancy."
"Stop it!" Sophie said, laughing. "Too much! Too many words, this English. In French it is so simple. You just say vite."
You should not be aghast, alarmed, amazed, appalled, astonished, bewildered, blown away, bowled over, confounded, dumbfounded, electrified, flabbergasted, flummoxed, overwhelmed, shocked, startled, stunned, stupefied, surprised, taken aback, or thunderstruck at this capacious cornucopia of synonyms in our marvelous English language.
More than four centuries ago, Sir Philip Sidney, the quintessential Renaissance man - at once poet, courtier, statesman, and soldier - celebrated our word wealth: "But for uttering sweetly and properly the conceite of the minde, which is the ende of thought, English hath it equally with any other tongue in the world." When Sir Philip penned those words, English possessed 50,000 words. Today the vessel of English contains well more than half a million and adds an average of 5,000 new words a year, providing an abundance of synonyms that offer wondrous possibilities for the precise and complete expression of diverse shades of meaning.
Thus, a sign in our San Diego Zoo reads: "Please do not annoy, torment, pester, plague, molest, worry, badger, harry, harass, heckle, persecute, irk, bully, rag, vex, disquiet, goad, beset, bother, tease, nettle, tantalize, or ruffle the animals."
Thus, a recent New Yorker cartoon puckishly celebrated our linguistic treasure trove. The cartoon's caption read: "Roget's Brontosaurus," and pictured was a big dinosaur in whose thought bubble appeared: "Large, great, huge, considerable, bulky, voluminous, ample, massive, capacious, spacious, mighty, towering, monstrous . . . ." If not for the finite capacity of thought bubbles, the artist could have added: "big, Brobdignagian, colossal, enormous, gargantuan, gigantic, hefty, hulking, humongous, husky, immense, jumbo, leviathan, looming, lumbering, mammoth, mountainous, ponderous, prodigious, sizable, substantial, tremendous, vast, weighty, whopping."
Such a cartoon would be far less likely to appear in a magazine printed in a language other than English. Books like Roget's Thesaurus are foreign to speakers of most other languages. Given the scope of their vocabularies, they have little need of them.
I hesitate to conclude this song of praise to the glories of English with dark news. But I regret to inform you that recently, a senior editor of Roget's Thesaurus assumed room temperature, bit the dust, bought the farm, breathed his last, came to the end of the road, cashed in his chips, cooled off, croaked, deep sixed, expired, gave up the ghost, headed for the hearse and the last roundup, kicked off, kicked the bucket, lay down one last time, lay with the lilies, left this mortal plain, met his maker, met Mr. Jordan, passed away, cashed in his chits, passed on, perished, permanently changed his address, pushed up daisies, returned to dust, slipped his cable, slipped this mortal coil, sprouted wings, took the last count, traveled to kingdom come, turned up his toes, went across the creek, went belly up, went to glory, went the way of all flesh, went to his final reward, went west - and, of course, he died.
Richard Lederer, vice president of SPELL, writes about, chronicles, comments on, authors books about, and informs readers concerning linguistics, language, and our native tongue. Write to him at 10034 Mesa Madera Dr., San Diego, CA 92131. His e-mail address is:
richard.lederer@pobox.com.
To reach the home page of The Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature (SPELL), click through to the aricle on the link at the top of this post, and click on the "HOME" link at the bottom of the page.
Nifty, neat, cool, groovy, nice, sweeeeeet.
Fo shizzle.
I guess that means that it's still OK to irritate, upset, put out, cheese off, frustrate, provoke, and rile them.
Article reminds me when Hillary is interviewed. She hardly sounds like "the world's smartest woman". She has the habit of saying "you know" repeatedly. Very grating.
Many a time I sit and ponder the fine distinctions between spunk, gumption, moxie and wherewithal.
Can I confuse, amaze, stun, puzzle, startle, bewilder or distract the cats, voles, stoats, pumas, Thompson's Gazelles, wildebeests and bees?
Can I really not badger a Taxidea taxus?
It's interesting that the bulk of the article dealt with synonyms, but the last list, euphamisms for dieing were, for the most part, quiloquial (sp? -ARGH!) expressions. When I speak to foreign born individuals that know English as a second language, I am often surprised that they don't have the slightest idea of what I am talking about when I use such expressions, expressions that have a distinct meaning in and of themselves wholly unrelated to the actual words used (see "pushing up daisies").
Wherewithal is not even close to spunk, gumption, and moxie. No wonder you get ponderiferous.
'Bought the farm'
'Kicked the bucket'
[BTW, the spellings you are looking for are 'dying' and 'colloquial']
I read this to Mrs. B_E.
She laughed. In womens Bible Study, they are told that it is the Greek and Hebrew (two dead languages) that have the most descriptive words. English, language of the pagans.
While it is true that some other languages can be extraordinarily descriptive about certain things, such as the hundred or so variations Eskimos have for "snow", or the similar number of words the Japanese have for various types of apologies, in most languages, there are things that cannot really be said with ease or precision.
One of my favorite sites on the internet is the Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Day. For those not familiar with the OED, they provide a full etymology for a word, as well as usage, and examples as seen in literature. Some of the examples are great. I've seen excerpts from as far back as the 800s AD.
Some days are much more interesting than others. I particularly like when they feature older mono-syllabic words because of the history they tend to have.
Of course, no comment on an article so loaded with synonyms would be complete without an excerpt from Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch
Mr. Praline: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
The final line of the above, is, of course the second funniest thing ever said on television.
-Can I really not badger a Taxidea taxus?-
You could say badger a badger, if only you'd rather.
WFTD ping
Yup! Yup! Agreed! Assent Acquiescence Affirmation Accord, Avowal, Concurrence Unanimity and most especially YES! That is funniest sketch ever!
It's nice, pleasant, encouraging, salubrious, to see that there are still craftsmen out there who appreciate, value, cherish, prize this rainbow palette of expression we call a language.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Truly LOL!!
FMCDH(BITS)
FMCDH(BITS)
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