For example, some linguists claim that it's not possible to count the number of words in a language because languages are always changing. Others maintain that clear decisions cannot be made about whether a word is a word. For example, "great-great-great-great grandfather" could be considered a word, but it isn't in the dictionary. (The Oxford English Dictionary, by the way, has about 600,000 entries.) There are also the complications of trying to count words that have one spelling but several meanings (such as bear, mean, minute, race, read, shift, wind and on and on.)

Paul Payack, president and chief word analyst for the Global Language Monitor, acknowledges that "It's always an estimation... It's like the height of Mount Everest is an estimation. The height of Mount Everest has changed five times in my lifetime because as we get better tools, the estimates get better."

He goes on to say that the million-word estimation isn't as important as the idea behind his project. His goal is to show that English has become a complex, global language that steadily "swallows up new words." This contrasts with other languages, like French, which intentionally put big walls around their vocabularies.

English has long been characterized by its ready incorporation of new terms. For example, recent events related to politics and the economy have resulted in the creation of "Obamamania," "defriend," "wardrobe malfunction," "zombie banks," "shovel ready" and "recessionista." This trend has accelerated in the modern era of Internet, global commerce and global travel --since it has put English in contact with many other linguistic groups.

For anyone interested in language, this is a fascinating and fun topic--regardless of how you think the counting should be carried out--or even if it should be carried out. Should you want to learn more about the project and the many areas it touches upon, go to http://www.languagemonitor.com/