ruby random phrase generator

rander.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

num_words = (ARGV[0] || 16).to_i
file = '/usr/share/dict/words'
total_words = `wc -l #{file}`
random_line_nums = Array.new(num_words * 5) { rand(1...total_words.to_i) }

words = []
File.open(file) do |fh|
  fh.each_with_index do |line, line_num|
    next unless random_line_nums.include?(line_num)
    words << line.chomp
  end
end

words.shuffle!

phrase = words.select {|word| word.length < 10 && word.length > 2 }.sample(num_words)

puts "picked words: #{phrase.inspect}"

Example usage:

# generate a 12 word phrase
% ruby rander.rb 12