A function to return the first n words from a string

function shorten_string($string, $wordsreturned)
/*  Returns the first $wordsreturned out of $string.  If string
    contains fewer words than $wordsreturned, the entire string
    is returned.
*/
{
    $retval = $string;      //  Just in case of a problem
     
    $array = explode(" ", $string);
    if (count($array)<=$wordsreturned)
    /*  Already short enough, return the whole thing */
    {
      $retval = $string;
    }
    else
    /*  Need to chop of some words */
    {
      array_splice($array, $wordsreturned);
      $retval = implode(" ", $array)." ...";
    }
    return $retval;
}