Surprising fact learnt today

[AndySpeed]

In another one of my interesting linguistics lectures (no more 'eats shoots and leaves' for now :p : ) I found that women don't actually talk as much as men! From a corpus of language, it is found that (from the British National Corpus):

Females speak a total of 3,267,444 words
Males speak a total of 4,920,742 words

I find it hard to believe, women always seem to have the most pointless conversations

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Have you ever had a conversation with a women. It's always the man that asks the questions to start a conversation, then men have to put so much effort into keeping the conversation going.

[BDunnell]

I remember a similar study a few years ago, which concluded that women nag their partners more in the evenings because they use up fewer words over the course of the day. This makes being gay an even more preferable option.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I remember a similar study a few years ago, which concluded that women nag their partners more in the evenings because they use up fewer words over the course of the day. This makes being gay an even more preferable option.




:erm:

[edv]

Wasn't there a study published this past month claiming that women talked 3 times as much as men?

[viper_man]

I do not beleive that information at all, everyone knows women talk a hell of a lot more than men. Whether it be pointless, interesting or otherwise, women talk more.

[Andrewmcm]

Wasn't there a study published this past month claiming that women talked 3 times as much as men?

Yeah, I saw that too. I imagine there is a difference between the number of words that a preson says, and the number of words a person has in their vocabulary.

[EuroTroll]

From a corpus of language, it is found that (from the British National Corpus):

Females speak a total of 3,267,444 words
Males speak a total of 4,920,742 words

What does this mean? :erm: What's "a corpus of language"?

[LotusElise]

Surely it depends on a lot of factors - a person who lives alone probably talks less than someone who lives with their partner and children. A person who doesn't own a telephone may speak less, for example.

Who goes round counting words anyway?

(I'm sure that the Corpus study is to do with the size of a person's vocabulary rather than the amount they speak anyway, although I have no idea how you measure that objectively either.)

[schmenke]

...everyone knows women talk a hell of a lot more than men. Whether it be pointless, interesting or otherwise, women talk more.

Mrs. Schmenke is living proof... :erm:

[EuroTroll]

(I'm sure that the Corpus study is to do with the size of a person's vocabulary rather than the amount they speak anyway, although I have no idea how you measure that objectively either.)

I was under the impression that the English language is generally estimated to have about 200,000 words...

[RaceFanStan]

..... This makes being gay an even more preferable option.
Is that a confession ? :laugh:

[edv]

I was under the impression that the English language is generally estimated to have about 200,000 words...

Yes, I heard the same thing...perhaps 250,000.

And the average person's vocabulary is somewhere around 10,000 words, except for politicians and lawyers. The smart ones have up to 12,000 words IIRC.

I wonder if bilingual people only know half the words....

[Storm]

Is that a confession ?

you are not keeping pace with the forums then :p :

[Sleeper]

Whoever said that clearly hasnt met my sister.

[Donney]

Well coming to think about it, it makes sense doesn't it?

It has traditionally been said that women have better communicative abilities than men, therefore it is only logical that they need less words to communicate.

I don't particularly agree with any of the mentioned studies though, I think it is an individual matter.

[Alexamateo]

Whoever said that clearly hasnt met my sister.

Nor my wife! :laugh:

[martinbalmer]

I remember a similar study a few years ago, which concluded that women nag their partners more in the evenings because they use up fewer words over the course of the day. This makes being gay an even more preferable option.

How does it fare for lesbian couples? :p :

Many years ago my maths teacher said that with gay partners, one tended to be more feminine and the other maybe slightly more towards masculine.

I don't think Kerry talks any greater amount than I do, and she doesn't nag. So, I'm lucky there..

[BDunnell]

How does it fare for lesbian couples? :p :

I believe they tend to be largely silent throughout the day.

[jso1985]

So women talk 3 times more than men but they use less words?

My sisters proves it I think, the only words I hear from her are "stupid" "gimme that" and "where's the cat" :p :

[Quattroporte]

In another one of my interesting linguistics lectures (no more 'eats shoots and leaves' for now :p : ) I found that women don't actually talk as much as men! From a corpus of language, it is found that (from the British National Corpus):

Females speak a total of 3,267,444 words
Males speak a total of 4,920,742 words

I find it hard to believe, women always seem to have the most pointless conversations

It's probably because the men are alive for an extra 5years...?

[BeansBeansBeans]

It's probably because the men are alive for an extra 5years...?

I'm fairly sure that women live longer than men, on average.

[Quattroporte]

No hang on, I've got it now. They only surveyed Gay men.

[CarlMetro]

Perhaps the survey was conducted on young adults, where the males, especially around here, seem to feel the need to add 'man', 'dude', 'innit' or 'like' several times into everyday sentences where they would otherwise be unnecessary :dozey:

[Sleeper]

Perhaps the survey was conducted on young adults, where the males, especially around here, seem to feel the need to add 'man', 'dude', 'innit' or 'like' several times into everyday sentences where they would otherwise be unnecessary :dozey:
No, sadly thats a global desease.