Sunday 26 August 2012

Word Count

I dropped the Chambers Crossword List book on the floor, and it fell open at ‘Religion’.  Well, you don’t have any choice, do you, it’s either that or ironing.

So: there are approximately 590 words listed under nine sub-categories.  Would you like to know what these are?  Of course you would.  Religions and religious groups; religious officers; writings; services; building types; buildings and sites; festivals and holidays; symbols; terms to do with religion.  Then it says ‘see also:

abbey; angel; apostle; archbishop; Bible; Buddhism; cardinal; cathedral; celebration; ceremony; chief rabbi; Christianity; Christmas; church; clerical vestment; cross; Dalai Lama; diocese; fast; Hinduism; Islam; Judaism; missionary; mythology; patriarch; plague; pope; prayer; priest; prophet; reformer; religious order; saint; Sikhism; theology’.

I haven’t had time, yet, to delve into this additional reading list, though I probably should – what exactly is ‘plague’ doing in there? Seven of Egypt, probably  – but I was moved to skip forward a few pages, to ‘Science’.  Here we find about a third as many words, 185, under just four sub-headings: Sciences; scientific concepts; scientific instruments; SI prefixes.  The ‘see also’ list is equally fascinating:

‘acid; amino acid; anatomy; atom; bacteria; biochemistry; biology; botany; chemistry; classification; electricity; engine; gas; gauge; genetics; geology; hydrocarbon; laboratory; law; measurement; medicine; meteorology; oil; optics; ore; plastic; psychiatry; psychology; radiation; study; zoology’.

I‘m not sure what to make of all this.

4 comments:

  1. My father, in the late 1920s, read Natural Sciences at Oxford. His was the first class to study biochemistry. Which is barely relevant, but a subject to hang a comment on, because the list is a bit random, isn't it?

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  2. There are sites that will require you to meet a certain number of words before you post your creation. Word counters could be used for you to know how many words your article has.

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  3. I see that 'theology' doesn't appear as a science.

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  4. Creationism appears on the main list as a religion, though.

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