hysteria
@Mslynx:
Saw a reference to this recently while browsing... Here is the chart:
- Below 6000 words - Children up to 9 years old
- 6,000 to 9,000 words - Children ages 10 to 16
- 9,000 to 12,000 words - 25% of adults in the U.S. have vocabularies of this size
- 12,000 to 18,000 words - Most adults have vocabularies in this range
- 18,000 to 24,000 words - Most college graduates and professional people
- Over 24,000 words - People at the top levels of their professions
(obviously relates to English only)
Thanks Rincewind.
Are they saying that a auto mechanic has a vocabulary of 18,000 to 24,000 words?
None that I ever met...What exactly do they mean by professional people? As far as the 25% of adults in the US having a vocabulary of 9000/12,000, I think they are being very generous there. Have you heard our president speak? MMM...He is more in the 6/9 thousand area (IMHO)!
@ JVB. You are probebly right. Some people have too much time on their hands!English is a mutt language. Meaning it has taken words from other languages and changed the pronunciations or meanings altogether. There are also words in American that are not spoken anywhere else. Slang. These words are not in any dictionary, yet they are words that are spoken here on a regular basis. I bet there are Americans in this forum that could think of a least 5 right now. Anyway, here is my word...
Ignorant! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
Drink Up Ye Cider. 
