Longest words

Q. Why is the word abbreviate so long
A. There's no reason why words should necessarily reflect in some way the concept they express. Unless, of course, like whistle or splash, a word is an onomatopoeia - something onomatopoeia is not in itself. If abbreviation is too� long for you, the 'official' abbreviation for abbreviation and abbreviate is abbr.

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Q. What are the longest words in the English language
A. English is not a language rich in very long words, unlike its close cousin German. In German it is common to make up compound words, which in English would be expressed by a number of individual words. An example of this is the snappy name of the Danube Steamship Company: Donaudampfschifahrtsgesellschaftkapitaen. Try coming up with an advertising jingle for that one.

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Most long words in English are chemical names or names of diseases. The longest of these are:

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Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters), a lung disease caused by breathing in particles
Tetramethyldiaminobenzhydrylphosphinous Acid (39 letters)
Hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomies (37 letters), a surgical creation of a connection between the gall bladder and a hepatic duct and between the intestine and the gall bladder
Formaldehydetetramethylamidofluorimum (37 letters)
Dimethylamidophenyldimethylpyrazolone (37 Letters)
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 Letters), from the Disney film Mary Poppins. It's an invented word, but appears in the Oxford English Dictionary
Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters), an estimation of something as worthless. This is the longest word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and it dates back to 1741. It was famously used by Sir Walter Scott in his Journal - 'They must be taken with an air of contempt, a floccinaucinihilipilification of all that can gratify the outward man' - and more recently by the US senator Jesse Helms in a debate on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: 'I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the CTBT.'
The longest word used by Shakespeare was honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters), appearing in Love's Labour's Lost.

Everyday long words are: incomprehensibilities (21 letters), indistinguishable, undistinguishable (both 17 letters) and incomprehensible (16 letters)

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Q. And the longest word ever, in any language
A. The prize for this goes to the term for the chemical formula C(1289)H(2051)N(343)O(375)S(8), which comes in at a� cool 1,913 letters:

Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylseryll
eucylphenylalanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysyl
glutamylarginyllysyglutamylgycylalanylphenyl
alanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonylleucyl
glycylaspartylprolylglycyllisoleucylglutamylglutamin
ylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucyl
isoleucylglutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartylalanyll
eucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenyl
alanylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycyl
prolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginylalanyl
threonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanyl
glycylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinyl
phenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucyl
isoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonyl
isoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyl
tyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenylalanyl
asparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamyl
phenylalanyltyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyl
lysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylsrylvalylleucylvalylalanyl
aspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanyl
prolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminylalanylalanyl
leucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolyl
isoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolyl
aspartylalanylaspartylaspartylaspartylleucyl
leucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosyl
glycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucyl
leucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylgly
cylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanyl
leucylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginyl
alanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylgly
cylphenylalanylglysylisoleucylserylalanyl
prolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanyl
isoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanylglycylal
anylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyl
lysylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidyl
asparaginylisoleucylglutamylprolylglutamyllysyl
methionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenyl
alanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanyl
alanylthreonylarginylserine.

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For more on Phrases & Sayings click here

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By Simon Smith