David Dyer-Bennet responding to my question: > > What's the count on Shakespeare's vocabulary vs the average > > well educated speaker of American English? > > You're expecting our vocabulary to be as larger or larger, I presume? > Could be. No. Actually, I expected it to be quite a bit smaller despite the vast number of words introduced over the intervening four centuries. Perhaps "working vocabulary" would be a better measure, since I'm certain that I use many fewer words than I know. > Of course, it's not how big it is; it's what you *do* with it that > matters. Natch.