MSGID: 1:153/716.0 1e8df821
REPLY: 2:221/6.0 61e5069e
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  My point is that native speakers tend to struggle with 
 AH>  these issues as well... so what you are seeing in
 AH>  Dallas's message is our version of gallows humour.

 AK>  I also didn't say my words seriously.


            Fair enough... I did notice your winks.  But I also see that a
word like "yacht" may be one the majority of us need to use only
occasionally.  :-))



 ak>> It is also a big question what percent of all English 
 ak>> words is known to all the people speaking English.

 AH>  No argument AFAIC.  When last I heard there were +/- half 
 AH>  a million words in the English language, not counting 
 AH>  technical terms... but the average social conversation 
 AH>  included only about 300 of them.  I don't talk down to 
 AH>  the folks I meet in this echo, yet they seem to keep
 AH>  coming back for more....  :-Q

 AK>  It seems to me that I can't imagine how on earth a person 
 AK>  can remember one million words. 


            Agreed.  In my dictionaries, even those which claim to include
many fewer words, there's a large team of specialists involved.  :-)



 AK>  And, besides, we should note that today 90% of people 
 AK>  don't read any books. ;)


            Quite possibly... but they don't read echoes like E_T either!  I
am addressing an audience consisting of people who do read books &/or who know
how to find various dictionaries on the Internet if they don't have their
own.  :-)



 AK>  I believe that now in the USA there should be a 
 AK>  simplified version of IVANHOE, as it is for the Bible. ;)


            I found simplified versions of Shakespeare's words when I looked
up a phrase in which I was uncertain about the spelling... but AFAIC much was
lost that way.  The author of IVANHOE used the language of Shakespeare & of
the King James Bible... which his audience would have been familiar with... to
represent the Old English which his medieval characters would have used.  If
the language were too authentic, few people would be able to understand it...
if it were too modern, as in "you'll blow your cover", the effect would be
lost.

            My experience as a junior high school teacher is that if Johnny
(or his father) read some children's edition of e.g. HUCKLEBERRY FINN before
he was old enough to appreciate the original Johnny may refuse to accept
further input WRT the subject because he is quite convinced he's already
mastered it....  :-Q

            If you don't feel ready to tackle some particular work yet, I
would suggest you make a mental note & be patient.  I gave up on WAR AND PEACE
when I first tried to read it because I couldn't keep the names straight...
but then I met you & other folks here who were able to explain how Russian
names work, the library introduced a system where I didn't have to go downtown
to find out what editions were available besides the one at our local branch,
and various people shared their interpretation of the cast of characters on
the Internet.  I found one which included a few errors but printed it &
modified it as I saw fit.  :-)



 AH>  ... and one of my former students told me I was the 
 AH>  only teacher he'd ever met who said "I don't Inknow". 
 AH>  If you tell me you don't understand I can slow down or 
 AH>  try rewording what I said or get back to you when I've 
 AH>  examined the matter further.

 AK>  What does it mean "I don't Inknow"?


            Oh, dear!  I guess it means I shouldn't post messages late at night
... as I often do when I may be interrupted at other times... because I tend
to overlook such errors.  What I had in mind was "I don't know"....  :-(




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