Linguistic Laziness

"Words cannot describe how much fun I had last weekend." That must have been quite some time!

There are about 200,000 English words in common use today. There are an estimated total of three million words in the English vocabulary. So, how is it that so frequently people state, "words cannot describe" something when they have so many words and mathematicians only know how many possible combinations of those words at their disposal?

Humans are social creatures. We did not get where we are today by sitting back and experiencing life. Our society and history are based on being able to describe abstract and mundane concepts with words. Taking a step further, our society and history are not just based on description, but on words themselves.

I grant that some things, especially esoteric or subjective things, are difficult to describe, sometimes close to impossible, but with a certain amount of exertion, it is feasible.

It is laziness upon which that oft uttered phrase is based.