ABSTRACT
Staring down at me from the shelf above my work desk is a hefty copy of the Shorter French Dictionary, or more precisely the Shorter English/French, French/English Dictionary. It has long fascinated me that the English/French section is a full centimetre and a half fatter than the French/English section. There are thousands upon thousands more words in the English language than in the French. It is thought that, to a considerable extent, the French language was limited in size and scope by the institution of the Académie française in 1635 with the express purpose of defining vocabulary and laying down rules for grammar.
