[python-uk] word chains: impossible ones

[Tim Golden]

On 17/06/2012 10:24, Richard Smedley wrote:
> 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 :)

I would also point you towards the Vatican's dictionary of modern-day
Latin (which it needs for documents which reference "astronaut",
"television" and, presumably, "scanning electron microscope"). This is 
the Italian version. I'm sure you get the idea.

 
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/latinitas/documents/rc_latinitas_20040601_lexicon_it.html#a


TJG