Originally Posted by Joe Obenberger

English has the largest vocabulary of any language on the planet - by far. Here's part of the reason.

English is a fusion of the germanic language the English people originally spoke - until the French-speaking Normans made French the official language after conquering it in 1066. And that's why English always has two root words for just about everything, one Latin/French and one German. The German-root word is always the lower-prestige word because it was the language working people still spoke at home after the Conquest. So "copulation" from Latin/French is a civilized word, while "fuck" from the German "ficken" is considered vulgar. It was all about the economic status of the people who used the word in England. Ignition/Fire. Aqueous/Water, etc.