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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Common long words #234098 07/05/2026 1:36 AM Joined: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,537 Likes: 12 London, UK A C Bowden Carpal Tunnel A C Bowden Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,537 Likes: 12 London, UK Common words are usually fairly short, but a few are long, and I wonder why they have not been eroded to something shorter. Some examples are: characteristic international misunderstanding opportunity representative simultaneous superintendent sympathetic (why not 'sympathic'?) university Note also the expression "lull into a false sense of security", which is surprisingly common in speech, considering its length (11 syllables). Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Common long words A C Bowden #234110 07/21/2026 12:46 AM Joined: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,537 Likes: 12 London, UK A C Bowden Carpal Tunnel A C Bowden Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,537 Likes: 12 London, UK Some other common long words: electricity paraphernalia totalitarian vocabulary Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Common long words A C Bowden #234111 07/26/2026 8:16 PM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 11,305 Likes: 2 Worcester, MA wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 11,305 Likes: 2 Worcester, MA And then there are Stanley Kunitz' self-reported "favorite" words: "eleëmosynary" and "phantasmagorical" A friend of his made a documentary movie about him - I don't know whether it was ever released to the general public - and posed the question to him. They sound different as he uttered them. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,917 Posts230,511 Members9,211 Most Online17,319 Apr 8th, 2026 Newest Members Boo boo kitty fu, peterreineck, Peripatetic Toad, JerryC, blvd 9,211 Registered Users Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 20 A C Bowden 10 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 wofahulicodoc 11,305 tsuwm 10,542 LukeJavan8 9,974 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

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