#66380
04/19/2002 11:35 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
This cannot be a new subject I am sure, but I’ll have a go anyway. I was brought up to believe that the longest word in the English language is antidisestablishmentarian, meaning a person who is opposed to the disestablishment of the church. Then there is the world famous Welsh railway station named: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which means “Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave”. But this cannot fairly be called a word – it is more like an essay. Try this link for some pictures by the way: http://www.onlyinternet.net/jcirillo/llan.htmRecently I have been introduced to two other words: pneumonoultramiscroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis which is an inflammatory lung disease caused by the inhalation of fine silica dust. I am told this is now the longest word in the English language, and: floccinaucinihilipilification - the act of estimating as worthless. I am told this is the longest non-medical word in the English language, but I suspect it was invented in order to achieve that distinction. The question I have is what makes it, or would make it, officially “a word”? I am sure it can't be frequent or common usage - you can hardly (?) pronounce it. Does any one have information regarding the derivation and provenance of flocci ….etc. or know of other challengers for the longest word? Or perhaps some suggestions for creating a new rival ourselves!
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#66381
04/19/2002 1:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
There is a lake between Massachusetts and Connecticut, which, according to a book by Wallace Nutting (I think) had a very long Indian name, now shortened (I think) to Chabunagungamog. The original was Indian for "I fish on my side, You fish on your side, nobody shall fish in the middle".
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#66382
04/19/2002 1:53 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Just a fun thing, I know that it isn't English, which is sort of the original query. Turkish (not that I know it myself but I have Turkish connections) is an agglutinative language (meaning you add suffixes to words to add all sorts of meanings) so you can actually make words which translate practically as whole sentences in English. One of my faves is (not all the characters come out correctly...) "Siz ÇekoslovakyalIlastIrabildiklerimizden misiniz yoksa ÇekoslovakyalIlastIramadIklarImIzdan mIsInIz?" Hear it at: http://www2.egenet.com.tr/mastersj/cuneyt-tongue-cheko.raIt means "Was it possible for us to Czechoslovakianize you or was it not possible for us to Czechoslovakianize you?" The guy on the recording actually does it rather slowly but my friend can do it quite quickly. Very neat! (More Turkish tongue twisters can be listened to at: http://www2.egenet.com.tr/mastersj/sounds-of-turkish--tongue-twisters.html if anyone is interested!)
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#66383
04/19/2002 2:26 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
some comments on the "longest" word, dxb: 1: floccinaucinihilipilification, the longest word in OED1, was coined ca. 1741, long enough before OED1 to make it into OED1. it's actually fairly easy to pronounce: 'floksi 'nossi 'nihili 'pilifi KAY shun it's a great word to throw out in conversation, once you've mastered it. 2. that other, medical word wouldn't be included in any general dictionary of mine, but it is the longest word in OED2. 3. then there are those ridiculously long protein names which some, like Mrs. Byrne, include fatuously (and perhaps fastuously). here's a previous thread on this subject: http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=37369also, http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=12898heeere's Quinion! http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-flo2.htm(it's also my watchword at wwftd :)
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#66384
04/19/2002 2:43 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Dear Tsuwm,
Thanks for the link and the pronunciation guide - both much appreciated. I was surprised to learn that it was so long established.
Do you think one could be prodisestablishmentarianismistically inclined?
Dear Bean,
I shall give the Turkish tonguetwister links a go tonight!
dxb.
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#66385
04/19/2002 2:59 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
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#66386
04/19/2002 3:59 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Wonderful links, particularly liked the First Law of English Grammar. See, I said it couldn't be a new thread - but at least you got to see a Welsh railway station!
dxb.
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#66387
04/19/2002 4:14 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Make it "a lung inflammation caused by silica dust," and the word is longer than its definition.
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#66388
04/19/2002 6:15 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
those ridiculously long protein names which some, like Mrs. Byrne, include fatuously (and perhaps fastuously).or perhaps even facetiously. 
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#66389
04/19/2002 6:29 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
So, tsuwm, in noting your site, worthless word for the day, couldn't we say, then, that this makes you our resident or supreme floccinaucinihilipilificat or? And thanks for the great rail station link, dxb! The Only WO'N!
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#66390
04/19/2002 7:13 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
W'ON, he's our supreme word-master, but lots can [and do, repeatedly] floccinaucinihilipilificate.
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#66391
04/20/2002 11:56 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328 |
My favorite long word: Hair
hahahahahahaha!
Ahem. Sorry.
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#66392
04/20/2002 12:06 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
My favorite long word: Hair
In that vein, how 'bout Angel Falls ?
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#66393
04/20/2002 5:38 PM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688 |
In that vein, how 'bout Angel Falls ?When? Can I stop that from happening?...OOOOPPSSSSS Help, I've fallen, and I can't get up!  Oh, you knew that was coming!
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#66394
04/20/2002 8:15 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Rapunzel said: My favorite long word: Hair
hahahahahahaha!
Ahem. Sorry.My favorite long word: Hair. --WO'Nplestiltskin hehehe  The Only WO'N!
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#66396
04/21/2002 12:02 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Akshually® I think this is no longer the longest railway station name in Wales - therre is a place up by Aberystwyth which changed its name to one of these "little hollow by the third rock from the green tree in a large field that my Auntie Blodwen used to own" kinda inventions - don't know if I can dig up the details, but. :)
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#66397
04/24/2002 4:54 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
A possibly apocryphal advertisement read:
"Would anyone who witnessed the fall of a lady in the High Street yesterday please contact ....."
Bingley
Bingley
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#66398
04/24/2002 6:03 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Dear Maverick,
As a collector of life's more quirky trivia I should be very interested in that new Welsh Station name if you come across it again. There's always something new.....
dxb
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#66399
04/24/2002 6:36 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
This one maybe? There is a 66-letter place name in Wales, according to Dr. David Crystal's Encyclopedia of Language: GORSAFAWDDACHAIDRAIGODANHEDDOGLEDDOLONPENRHYNAREURDRAETHCEREDIGION, meaning "the Mawddach station and its dragon teeth at the Northern Penrhyn Road on the golden beach of Cardigan bay."http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words12.html
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#66400
04/24/2002 7:56 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
That's the very one, well done Jo =)
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#66401
04/25/2002 10:56 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
...how 'bout Angel Falls ?
There really _is_ an Angel Falls. Probably more than one, but the one I'm thinking of is in interior Venezuela, named after a Norteamericano pilot Jimmy Angel. Higher than Niagara Falls, as I recall, but much narrower and much much less water-per-hour.
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#66402
04/25/2002 11:14 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
shortened to Chabunagungamog.
The full English transliteration is "Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagunggamogg."
Maybe I have a few double-g's misplaced.
It's actually quite pronounceable is you break it up: Char-gogg'-a-gogg/man-chaugg'-a-gogg/chau-bun-a-gungg'-a-mogg.
All the g's are hard, as in "goggles."
The local name is Webster Lake. It is, indeed, in Webster, Mass., close to Connecticut.
The translation You-fish-on-your-side-I-fish-on-my-side-nobody-fish-in-the-middle is considered to be an Urban (make that Rural?) Legend, though I haven't looked it up lately. Disappointing. I don't know if there _is_ a "real" Indian meaning to the phrase, but it has to be more charming the legendary way.
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