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"....  :-(   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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