在2009年，某些事件可能会比下面将要提到的事件重要的多，但是，可以肯定的是，这类事件绝不会很多：到2009年4月29日那天，英语词汇的数量将超过一百万。这个惊人的事实激发出大量的频繁提出的问题，文字专家们把它们称之为FAQ，即“常见问题”。

Some events in 2009 may be more momentous, but surely not many: on April 29th the number of words in the English language will pass 1m. This astonishing fact prompts a host of frequently asked questions or, as wordsmiths call them, FAQs.

　　首先，这是谁说的？答案是，这是总部设在得克萨斯州奥斯汀的“全球语言监测公司”说的。该公司密切关注各种语言特别是英语的使用情况，追踪它们的各种变化。

　　First, who says—or, in tabloid (this meaning coined in 1902) journalese (1882), who sez? The answer is the Global Language Monitor, a company based in Austin, Texas. It keeps an eye on the use of language, especially English, and tracks changes.

　　如果做为权威的话，“全球语言监测公司”说是新词就是新词吗？绝不是的。某些国家，比如法国和西班牙，有学术机构宣称有权管制他们国家的语言，并抵制那些外来术语，主要是外来的英语术语。无论是英国还是美国，都不会做这种徒劳无益的事情。英语是一种杂交语言，一直靠吸收新词、新用法和新含义来保持其生命力。它杂乱地掠夺其它语言，并以增加新词为乐。它是“全球语言监测公司”的职员之类的自由贸易者和有才能的企业家的语言。

　　And by what authority does the Global Language Monitor say a new coinage is a genuine new word? None. Some countries, such as France and Spain, have academies that claim the right to regulate their national languages, and to repel invasive terms, usually from English. Neither England nor the United States attempts such an exercise in futility. English is a mongrel language that keeps its vitality by absorbing new words, uses and expressions. It promiscuously plunders other languages and delights in neologisms. It is the language of free traders and inventive entrepreneurs such as the staff of the Global Language Monitor.

　　那么，英语的词汇将在预测的明年4月份达到1百万的事实是真的吗？当然不是。首先，“全球语言监测公司”解释说，实际的日期可能会在2009年4月29日前后5天之内。然后，他们说英语词汇早已经超过1百万了，如果你接受韦氏词典前言中的说法的话，韦氏词典的前言提到，英语所包含的词汇比其所列的45万个单词要多“ 很多倍”。然而，牛津字典所列的单词只是韦氏词典的一半那么多。

　　So is it really a fact that English will have 1m words on the predicted date in April? Of course not. For a start, the global monitors explain that the actual date could be five days either side of April 29th. Then they say that English already has well over 1m words, if you accept the statement in the introduction to the Merriam-Webster dictionary that the language contains “many times” the 450,000 words it lists. Yet the Oxford dictionary lists only half as many.

　　谁是对的呢？英语有多少个单词呢？这取决于单词的计算方法。比如“write”一词，有该词的原形的“write”、第三人称单数的“writes”、过去式的 “wrote”以及过去分词的“written”。是把它们算为4个单词呢，还是算为1个单词？如果算一个单词的话，那么“be”、“am”、 “are”、“is”、“was”、“were”又该怎样计算呢? 一词多义的单词数不胜数，它们又该如何计算呢？另外，“set” 和“stock”的意思相重，是应该各算一个单词吗？而winespeak、computer drivel以及其它术语又该如何计算呢？

　　Who’s right? How many words are there? That depends on what counts as a word. Should “write”, “writes”, “wrote”, “written” count as four words or one? If one, what about “be”, “am”, “are”, “is”, “was”, “were”? What about the numberless words with different meanings? Should “set” and “stock”, for instance, each count as one, though their meanings are manifold? And what of winespeak, computer drivel and other jargon?

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