In the interest of efficiency, the European Union has decided to use “new” simplified German in its business. The simplified language, introduced two years ago, “cut the number of spelling rules from 212 to 112 and those governing usage of commas from 52 to nine. German’s Lego-like way of constructing words was also changed by preventing one very long one being created from several.” But the decision has Germans up in arms. – The Telegraph (UK) 08/22/00