One in a Million
- Derek Hazell
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One in a Million
You now have one million words to choose from every time you play a game of Countdown, as the Global Language Monitor crowned "Web 2.0" as the millionth word in the English language yesterday.
But the OED, the official guide for Countdown, are not quite so sure, as they say the term has been used since 1999.
Obviously you can only use the letters available to you when playing, and many of the words would be over 9 letters, but it still gives a hint to the amazing amount of vocabulary top-end players in both Countdown and Scrabble need to cram in.
If terms like "Web 2.0" are now being classed as words though, maybe we will eventually see a new round in Countdown which is comprised of both letters AND numbers!
But the OED, the official guide for Countdown, are not quite so sure, as they say the term has been used since 1999.
Obviously you can only use the letters available to you when playing, and many of the words would be over 9 letters, but it still gives a hint to the amazing amount of vocabulary top-end players in both Countdown and Scrabble need to cram in.
If terms like "Web 2.0" are now being classed as words though, maybe we will eventually see a new round in Countdown which is comprised of both letters AND numbers!
Living life in a gyratory circus kind of way.
- Kirk Bevins
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Re: One in a Million
Surely there aren't this many in the ODE2r, the Countdown word source.Derek Hazell wrote:
Obviously you can only use the letters available to you when playing, and many of the words would be over 9 letters, but it still gives a hint to the amazing amount of vocabulary top-end players in both Countdown and Scrabble need to cram in.
And decimal points?Derek Hazell wrote: If terms like "Web 2.0" are now being classed as words though, maybe we will eventually see a new round in Countdown which is comprised of both letters AND numbers!
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Re: One in a Million
... and how many are accepted by Lexplorer?Kirk Bevins wrote: Surely there aren't this many in the ODE2r, the Countdown word source.
Re: One in a Million
My own dictionary file (which is very similar to that used by Lexplorer) has a little over 82,000 words in.Peter Mabey wrote:... and how many are accepted by Lexplorer?Kirk Bevins wrote: Surely there aren't this many in the ODE2r, the Countdown word source.
- Charlie Reams
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Re: One in a Million
Lexplorer has 97199 words so something odd is going on here...Jon Corby wrote: My own dictionary file (which is very similar to that used by Lexplorer) has a little over 82,000 words in.
- Charlie Reams
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Re: One in a Million
Prior artDerek Hazell wrote:If terms like "Web 2.0" are now being classed as words though, maybe we will eventually see a new round in Countdown which is comprised of both letters AND numbers!
Re: One in a Million
Is that the extended dictionary for hyper etc though?Charlie Reams wrote:Lexplorer has 97199 words so something odd is going on here...Jon Corby wrote: My own dictionary file (which is very similar to that used by Lexplorer) has a little over 82,000 words in.
If not, I didn't put any of the one letter words in (except 'a') so there could well be a few thousand of them.
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Re: One in a Million
You've found a few thousand one-letter words! What alphabet are you using? Chinese?Jon Corby wrote:If not, I didn't put any of the one letter words in (except 'a') so there could well be a few thousand of them.
- Charlie Reams
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Re: One in a Million
Ah, that's it. 82178 of nine letters or fewer.Jon Corby wrote:Is that the extended dictionary for hyper etc though?Charlie Reams wrote:Lexplorer has 97199 words so something odd is going on here...Jon Corby wrote: My own dictionary file (which is very similar to that used by Lexplorer) has a little over 82,000 words in.
If not, I didn't put any of the one letter words in (except 'a') so there could well be a few thousand of them.
- Ben Wilson
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Re: One in a Million
And CSW, the so-called 'ridiculously expansive Scrabble word list', only has around 270 000.
Though to be pedantic isn't 'Web 2.0' more of a 'term' than a 'word'?
Though to be pedantic isn't 'Web 2.0' more of a 'term' than a 'word'?
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Re: One in a Million
Haven't you seen the new Apterous DC guest?Howard Somerset wrote:You've found a few thousand one-letter words! What alphabet are you using? Chinese?Jon Corby wrote:If not, I didn't put any of the one letter words in (except 'a') so there could well be a few thousand of them.
- Derek Hazell
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Re: One in a Million
I would have thought so, yes Ben. But the term was classed as a word when it was christened the "millionth word". That is why I made the comment about a words AND numbers round, and then Charlie showed me a similar thing which had been done in Scrabble.Ben Wilson wrote:And CSW, the so-called 'ridiculously expansive Scrabble word list', only has around 270 000.
Though to be pedantic isn't 'Web 2.0' more of a 'term' than a 'word'?
Living life in a gyratory circus kind of way.
- Derek Hazell
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Re: One in a Million
I have found out that Susie was on Newsnight on Tuesday - before the word was announced - talking about the various contenders for the millionth word title*. The eventual winner "web 2.0" was not mentioned, but noob was; and as it can also be spelt n00b it is also another contender for our new words AND numbers round.
* You can still see her on iPlayer if you hurry
* You can still see her on iPlayer if you hurry
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- Derek Hazell
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Re: One in a Million
Susie also mentioned the millionth word debate on Countdown on Monday 15th June.
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