# The English language's vocabulary: especially and outstandingly precise? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716 "2015-08-01T09:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/21 "2015-08-02T14:13:24Z")
Pfft, everyone knows the most precise languages are Lojban, Ithkuil, Sanskrit and Polish in that order. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/22 "2015-08-02T14:45:37Z")
The dude described in the OP seems to have a milder case of an affliction a former coworker of mine suffered from, and made everybody around her suffer from (not the clients, but anybody else). There is a developmental stage in which people discover that words can have more than one meaning (polysemia) and that concepts can be expressed with more than one term (synonyms). And their usual reaction is rejection. This is completely disorganized! This is unacceptable! How dare grownups come up with such messy languages! Well, I’ll be! :mad: Most kids get over it pretty quick, but this woman hadn’t. Already in her 40s, she was a complete pain in the ass to be around. Thankfully she didn’t sit with the rest of the team, because the rest of us loved playing with words and she found it offensive that there could be such a thing as “mineral oil”. You don’t get it by pressing minerals, so it should be called something else! Or expressions such as referring to someone who’s in a permanent foul mood as being “vinegary”. He’s not a pickle, he can’t be called vinegary! Your friend owns language as much as my former coworker does, thank the Word. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/23 "2015-08-03T06:29:24Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > As a further note, IQ testing seems to show that the smartest people are asians, then whites, then blacks. [Crap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Differences_in_Intelligence_%28book%29#Reception), [poorly-assembled IQ tests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations#Criticism_of_data_sets) (sometimes coupled with outright fabrication) _seems_ to show this, you mean… > [@](#): > > Well, the asian languages have far fewer words Do they? Cite. > [@](#): > > , and a system of pictograms where to introduce another word to the language, all writers have to learn and accept a new pictogram. You _do_ realise Chinese is not the only Asian language, right? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/24 "2015-08-03T07:15:09Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Of course, whether it is true or not, you cannot advance this as a theory because “political correctness” and modern ideas **requires** that you deny any and all racial differences exist at all, anywhere. You cannot advance this “theory” because it is pathetically rife with ignorance about language–political correctness has nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/25 "2015-08-03T12:53:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Your friend owns language as much as my former coworker does, thank the Word. I get the feeling that if the two of them had met, they might have been a couple made in heaven; except that I’m assuming that you’re probably translating, and that they would have been pedants re different languages – each convinced that his / her own language was supreme, and that the other’s was rubbish ! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/26 "2015-08-03T13:34:52Z")
English does indeed have a rich vocabulary, and many words with different connotations and which are used in different context. Consider odor, aroma, smell, and scent. All are defined broadly as “something that can be perceived by the sense of smell,” yet you wouldn’t say “The odor of chocolate is delicious” or “I don’t like the aroma of raw sewage” (except ironically). As for the OP, that’s standard ignorant prescriptionist blather. “Right now” has been attested to as far back as 1475, fell out of fashion for a couple of centuries, then cam back by the end of the 19th century. In this case, “right” is an intensifier and a perfectly legitimate use. “Share” in the sense of “to give information to others” dates back to the 17th Century: > [@OED](#): > > 1610 Histrio-mastix vi. i. H 1 b, Cun[stable]. Soft sirs, I must talke with you for taxe mony, To releeue the poore, not a penny paid yet. Post. Sir, at few words we shar’d but xv. pence last weeke. Like most people who complain about wrongly used language, the friend never bothers to look up the usage in a dictionary to see if it actually is wrongly used. And thinking language is purely logical is pure folly. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/27 "2015-08-03T13:52:49Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Imperialism? gimme a break. English starts out with a large vocabulary because they were a small island off the coast of something bigger and more powerful. The language expands to include the words of their conquerors, at the same time loosing it’s grammer to enable communication with their patrons. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Exactly. It was imperialism that expanded the English language. England got colonized. Modern English is a combination of Old English and Norman French. Now I’m no expert in language or history, but as I sat on the **verandah** of my **bungalow** in my **pyjamas** , sipping a glass of **punch** and listening to the **pundits** on the radio , I wondered if there were any **cheetahs** in the **jungle** , and if I should change into my **pukka khaki jodhpurs** for the **gymkhana** later. The **memsahib** clutched her **shawl** and said she needed to shop for more **shampoo** , and some **chutney** , but didn’t want to take the \*\*dinghy \*\*to the mainland for fear of a \*\*typhoon \*\*at sea or \*\*thugs \*\*in the town. [English words from Hindu and Urdu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Hindi_or_Urdu_origin) There’s a whole load [more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_English_words_by_country_or_language_of_origin) from other countries that never invaded us. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/28 "2015-08-03T14:02:52Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Well, the asian languages have far fewer words, and a system of pictograms where to introduce another word to the language, all writers have to learn and accept a new pictogram. There are a finite number of possible pictograms that can be written with a reasonable number of brush strokes. Really? I had no idea. So when new things are introduced to China, like say trains in the late 19th/early 20th century, or Coca-Cola in the last few decades, they have to come up with a whole new drawing that everyone must learn in order to understand that word? Am I understanding your view of the Chinese language correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/29 "2015-08-03T15:16:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > As for the OP, that’s standard ignorant prescriptionist blather. “Right now” has been attested to as far back as 1475, fell out of fashion for a couple of centuries, then cam back by the end of the 19th century. In this case, “right” is an intensifier and a perfectly legitimate use. > > “Share” in the sense of “to give information to others” dates back to the 17th Century: > Like most people who complain about wrongly used language, the friend never bothers to look up the usage in a dictionary to see if it actually is wrongly used. \*\* And thinking language is purely logical is pure folly.\*\* Without wishing this thread to be overmuch about my strange friend, as opposed to about his ideas on the topic concerned – there are times when I’ve wondered whether he is in fact not human, but Vulcan. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/30 "2015-08-03T15:42:30Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > I get the feeling that if the two of them had met, they might have been a couple made in heaven; except that I’m assuming that you’re probably translating, and that they would have been pedants re different languages – each convinced that his / her own language was supreme, and that the other’s was rubbish ! Oh no: Ana was a pedant in four languages. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/31 "2015-08-03T15:45:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > … and she found it offensive that there could be such a thing as “mineral oil”. You don’t get it by pressing minerals, so it should be called something else! … Don’t get her started on “baby oil” ! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/32 "2015-08-03T16:16:47Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > It seems to me that it’s much easier to write an ambiguous sentence in English than in French or Spanish (the only other languages I know) . I (native English speaker) have studied Italian and Russian, and I’ve come to the same conclusion about English from the other direction, so to speak. There are situations where you want to create ambiguity or the opportunity to change the course of the sentence midway through it, and English vocabulary and grammar lets you do this where other languages don’t. Of course, I can’t think of any good illustrative examples now! (Russian in particular has much less room for ambiguity than English since it’s a language with six cases, and while (like Latin) you can technically put the words of a sentence in any order and have it make sense, you must already plan the entire sentence out before delivering it in order to put the nouns and adjectives in the proper cases.) > [@JWT Kottekoe](#): > > ``` > By contrast, a French colleague of mine claims it is impossible to express a profound thought in the English language. > > ``` And this is a weak joke, as the past 500 years of history unambiguously refute that. What English isn’t very good for is rhyming. Compared to a Romance language like Italian, English is markedly rhyme-poor. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/33 "2015-08-03T18:56:50Z")
There was a young woman from Orange who wanted to ride on a … errr, ummm, … DAMN!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/34 "2015-08-03T19:55:31Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Now could refer to today, or this week, or this year, or this millenium. But _right now_ means immediately, and IMHO has a distinct meaning. _Stuart_: Sheldon, I’m afraid you couldn’t be more wrong. _Sheldon_: “More” wrong? “Wrong” is an absolute state and not subject to gradation. _Stuart_: Of course it is. It’s a \*little \*wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable, it’s \*very \*wrong to say it’s a suspension bridge. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/35 "2015-08-04T10:30:00Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > So when new things are introduced to China, like say […] Coca-Cola in the last few decades, they have to come up with a whole new drawing that everyone must learn in order to understand that word? Don’t be silly. They just combine the ones for ‘bite the wax tadpole’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/36 "2015-08-04T14:22:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There was a young woman from Orange > who wanted to ride on a … errr, ummm, … DAMN!! Door hinge ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/37 "2015-08-04T15:42:16Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Really? I had no idea. So when new things are introduced to China, like say trains in the late 19th/early 20th century, or Coca-Cola in the last few decades, they have to come up with a whole new drawing that everyone must learn in order to understand that word? Not usually. They use pictograms for existing words and combine them (“computer” uses the pictograms for “calculating” and “Machine”). If there aren’t existing pictograms (say, for a proper name), they combine pictograms that have the same sound as each of the syllables in the word. Thus, “Schenectady” uses the pictograms for “Sīkè nèi kè tǎ dí.” The fun part is that the pictograms also have meanings independent of the combination. Thus the pictograms for “Schenectady” mean (if Google translate is to be trusted) “Sri Lanka within tower.” I haven’t checked if Coca-Cola is indeed “Bite the Wax Tadpole,” but it’s certainly not impossible for it to have a meaning when the syllables are translated this way. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/38 "2015-08-04T16:00:19Z")
To be clear, I know how new words are made in Chinese. **Habeed** ’s comments, which I quoted, are simply wrong, like many other of his factual allegations. I just sort of wanted to see if he’d dig himself a deeper hole. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/39 "2015-08-04T16:54:34Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > To be clear, I know how new words are made in Chinese. **Habeed** ’s comments, which I quoted, are simply wrong, like many other of his factual allegations. I just sort of wanted to see if he’d dig himself a deeper hole. “many”? PM me. I’m also not making the allegation as factual. 1. A PhD scientist I know personally advanced this theory 2. The theory does fit a cursory glance of the evidence - it’s not just the pictograms, Asian languages do in fact have fewer words. China did in fact have many technological advances centuries before the west but never followed up on them. 3. If this theory were true, it cannot be discussed. 4. IQ testing comes in many different forms. The basic asians, whites, blacks ranking has been confirmed thousands of places. I know of no set of tests that didn’t confirm this… ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716/40 "2015-08-04T18:34:42Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Or expressions such as referring to someone who’s in a permanent foul mood as being “vinegary”. He’s not a pickle, he can’t be called vinegary! An inability to appreciate or understand figurative language seems less like a personality quirk and more like something on the autism spectrum. Do the people mentioned in this thread also have difficulty with sarcasm or metonymy? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-languages-vocabulary-especially-and-outstandingly-precise/726716.md?page=3)