function similar to get_html_translation_table

Hi there, I've recently had a need for a function that can translate html code such as  and œ, etc...I've found the trick of flipping the resulting array from get_html_translation_table and using strtr to translate characters, but I've found nothing to deal with these other html quantities. I know I could make a big array myself and make my own function, but it seems to me that something like this would be useful for others as well. Has anything like this been considered? Is it possible to write code for it and see if others find it useful? Any help and thoughts are much appreciated. Jack Dempsey