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To: ccmay; Atlantic Bridge
"Mississippischaufelraddampferkapitänsmützenfabrikbesitzer",

LOL! Never seen that one ;^)
However, as far as I know such long words aren't something you encounter in everyday German and especially these extra-long words are just made up for fun because you can and not because you have to.

80 posted on 03/26/2006 6:23:42 AM PST by BMCDA (If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it,we would be so simple that we couldn't)
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To: BMCDA; ccmay; Marla Starr; NZerFromHK
"Mississippischaufelraddampferkapitänsmützenfabrikbesitzer"

This word is a joke of course, but it is true that words can be combined easily in German. Anyway I am not convinced in the competition about the most numerous vokabular. As already being said, the possibility of combination and syntax is also very important. My personal impression is, that in German it is usually simpler to find more striking and sharp expressions compared to English. On the other hand German or French have many other disadvantages. The syntax and the grammar are -as far as I know- a pure nightmare while English is quite foolproof (It was really interesting to me that our friend from Hongkong, the "NZerFromHK" sees this different, but I remember the painful hours of some American friends who tried themselves in German).

Anyway it does not matter if we speak French, English, Cantonese, Mandarin or German. The person who is speaking the language and his/her abillities to express him/herselves are the decisive factor. English is just perfect as a instrument to connect people like us from different continents and countries. Somehow the the least common denominator for international relations since it is widespread and easy to learn. Besides of that it will never substitute the other big languages since a man of literature will never read Goethe, Lessing, Brecht, Hugo, Camus or de Saint-Exupery in any other language than in the original. Or imagine the nightmare to hear Jacques Brel singing in English. ;-)

81 posted on 03/26/2006 9:13:45 AM PST by Atlantic Bridge (De omnibus dubitandum.)
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