[python-uk] word chains: impossible ones

[Richard Smedley]

On 17/06/12 10:01, Gadget/Steve wrote:
> If you need a complete, always up to date, dictionary then you need to
> work in a dead language like Latin - no new words introduced for over a
> thousand years AFAIK or an artificial one, e.g. Esperanto where a
> committee or other authority specifies which words are valid.  English
> is growing and changing every day as old words are brought back into use
> or redefined by individuals and new words introduced by individuals,
> organisations and mistakes - all it takes is for something to start
> being used by enough people - even brand names and abbreviations picked
> to be unique enter the language as they are generalised, e.g. hoover, LED.

Beware of assumptions ;-)

Latin was a living language amongst European scientists generally
as recently as a couple of centuries ago. As a consequence of which
it was adopted by botanists and is thus used day-to-day to describe
new plant discoveries.

A consequence of this is that botanic latin picks up new words as
needed, when something like a scanning electron microscope comes
along and needs to be named :)

..okay, I'm being picky, let's allow your point, but substitute
Homeric Greek ;-)

  - Richard

ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ
πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν

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