From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Juanma Barranquero Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Emacs learning curve Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:27:39 +0200 Message-ID: References: <4C3B6A8A.80105@gmx.de> <87wrt0e81n.fsf@telefonica.net> <62E9699C07054418AB66F9C5FCB54E5C@us.oracle.com> <87sk3oe3la.fsf@telefonica.net> <1154D96E7D2F401D849266F359E44BB9@us.oracle.com> <87ocecdzou.fsf@telefonica.net> <2256C17F740A425884AD551DE7758056@us.oracle.com> <87fwzodqqm.fsf@telefonica.net> <5138CDF30B2D4B778F948015614DA7BC@us.oracle.com> <87iq4ijtdy.fsf@lola.goethe.zz> <270AD461F0F14E549F82D88785A23A0A@us.oracle.com> <675D80AD8CAA4D2ABF38193770343D9F@us.oracle.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1279913294 11681 80.91.229.12 (23 Jul 2010 19:28:14 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:28:14 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Drew Adams Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri Jul 23 21:28:11 2010 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OcNuj-00027F-Ln for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:28:09 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:48633 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1OcNui-0000Z2-VM for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:28:08 -0400 Original-Received: from [140.186.70.92] (port=51723 helo=eggs.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1OcNuc-0000Xe-Db for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:28:03 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OcNub-0007Gb-9i for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:28:02 -0400 Original-Received: from mail-bw0-f41.google.com ([209.85.214.41]:43197) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OcNub-0007GM-3T for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:28:01 -0400 Original-Received: by bwz9 with SMTP id 9so2112267bwz.0 for ; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:28:00 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:mime-version:received:in-reply-to :references:from:date:message-id:subject:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=QxQSj/OGiSNbmWMeEwuJPQniWmsCOpnxcMRgUuxm7h8=; b=hAYkS5KN9sw0//cO/6twcKAj1Q/J8r3QRBG88L08ZIyE4VrUVrayDagTdh4yCWWrJJ 4dxgTjN2hhHCeJKpCmSiyd4MWEx1QM9cHSD3rSvp/sy0Ata4wUAfNQvplpS2YLYkVkQ8 0Am255TcjoICXIlqyzbOFk5VrmYhI6tQCLU70= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id:subject:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=k2sp+Z8l/+MRHjpp1V8iwZMwfXdFppPB1rouiypnb7DUdOZDN2UbWuL1FuyQXvJWhi 0htESyzBuy9eXWnODybHOwmb5B4v5LPh/4qjCbgBF0qvacG9+gxfiSwqpgs/YfnueEtB IhdkJwQabWfYVBAyknZz03WKDeUzCV/9sUhCc= Original-Received: by 10.204.79.223 with SMTP id q31mr2884696bkk.92.1279913280125; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:28:00 -0700 (PDT) Original-Received: by 10.204.180.136 with HTTP; Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:27:39 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <675D80AD8CAA4D2ABF38193770343D9F@us.oracle.com> X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 2) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:127723 Archived-At: On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 20:50, Drew Adams wrote: > Mandarin is bigger than Spanish and English combined. Yes, though that's likely related to the fact that what Chinese linguistics call dialects, indoeuropeists would call languages (meaning that there are likely "mandarin speakers" whose native language is as different as Portuguese is from Spanish). > English is #2 in total speakers (50% more than Spanish). Yes, of course. > That underlines the fact that no one knows - these are only > estimates. Reading the Language Log has given me a healthy distrust of most numbers quoted on linguistics claims in the internet or the press. > Interestingly (surprising to me, at least), there are more secondary spea= kers of > French than of English (and Spanish is #5 in secondary speakers). Not surprising to me. French has long been considered a "language of culture". Even in Spanish-speaking countries, French as a second language was for a long time much more common than English (I should know, I was never taught English). > Almost anything is simpler and much more regular than English. > Even Emacs. True :-) > And that alphabet was > designed once and for all back in the 1500s, if I'm not mistaken. =C2=A0A= good > example of the value of careful study and good design. And a good example of politics; it wasn't official until ~1890 because it gave the common people too much power. > BTW, I heard on the radio the other day that they ("They" (TM)) have logg= ed the > one-millionth word in English. =C2=A0It was "Web 2.0", IIRC. =C2=A0"Defri= end" was also a > recent one. =C2=A0By contrast, French was clocked at about 250,000 words. I heartily recommend the Language Log posts about the "million word". > Like sluts everywhere, English is not picky about what it picks up. =C2= =A0French is > picky (or it would like to be). =C2=A0In English you can verb any noun. Calvin said it succinctly: "verbing weirds things". (And, as everybody knows, if there's two things the anglo-saxon culture should be remembered for, surely they are Shakespeare and Calvin & Hobbes :-) =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Juanma