[dogscoff]

I heard somewhere that the reason English has achieved such a strong "international language" status is due not so much to the fact that so many rich countries speak it (although that is undeniably a factor) but because it is so good at absorbing words from other Languages. If you think about it, it makes sense. Try squeezing an foreign word into a french sentence (same for italian, probably german)- it will sound wierd, and you won't know what gender it's supposed to be (although I believe foreign words are usually given masculine status), or how the hell to conjugate it if it's a verb or how to make it agree if it's not. English, on the other hand, can assimilate and bastardise just about anything you throw at it.

20 or 30 years ago, French *was* the international language of politics and diplomacy, largely because it is less ambiguous than english. Now it is just the international language of roulette, wine and yank-bashing. (all of them entirely worthwhile pursuits, imho=-)

--
"Verbing wierds language"
-Calvin