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Originally Posted by 5thWiggle
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The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
James Nicoll
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And you know what English is? The result of the efforts of Norman men-at-arms to make dates with Saxon barmaids in the Ninth Century Pre-Atomic, and no more legitimate than any of the other results.
H. Beam Piper, Little Fuzzy
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Two of my favorite quotes on English. 
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Preceded by Saxon men-at-arms trying to make dates with Celtic barmaids.
To my knowledge there isn't any definitive tome on the size of the English vocabulary compared to other languages. However, to quote the OED
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the circle of the English language has a well-defined centre but no discernible circumference.
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with the end result that English is considered to have the largest vocabulary in the world, and enables shades of meaning that are difficult to encompass in other languages.