Many years ago (the exact number is not important) when I was in school, I used to be a good speller. With the advent of the computer, my spelling skills have become pathetic. There are times I mangle a word so severely that spell checker is even at a loss for suggestions as to what I might be trying to say.The more letters a word has, the more opportunity I have to misspell or mispronounce it, so I tend to use shorter words. However, words with many letters still fascinate me, so when I saw the article, “The 11 Longest Words in the English Language” in the Huffington Post, it grabbed my attention.
The longest word is 189,819 letters. It’s the chemical name of titin, the largest known protein. I’m not going to print it. With all those letters, I’m sure I’d make a typo or two (not that anyone would notice) and it isn’t a word I can imagine anyone dropping during a casual conversation. I do wonder, however, if there are any sadistic teachers who put this word on an exam and mark off for spelling.
Here are a few of my favorites from the article that roll off the tongue
Honorificabilitudinitatibus n. (27 letters) - the state of being able to achieve honors. The longest word Shakespeare ever used and the longest word in the English language with alternating consonants and vowels.
Floccinaucinihilipilification n. (29 letters) - the estimation of something as valueless.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian adj. (30 letters) of or pertaining to extremely long words.
Asseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary adj. (51 letters) - used to describe the structure of the entire human body. (Note: The definition has fewer letters than the word, so why use the word?)
Aequeosalinocalcalinosetaceoaluminosocupreovitriolic adj. (52 letters) - used to describe the spa waters at Bath, England. (Note: I don’t know if this is a good description or bad, but I think I’d keep out of the water.)
Speaking of words, Hart Johnson of Confessions of a Watery Tart, awarded me with the Literacy Builder Award. Though I feel undeserving of this award, I’m truly flattered. If you haven’t visited Hart, you don’t know the fun you’re missing. She has a love of words and it shows in her blogs. I’m expected to pass this award along, but I notice it’s already displayed by the blogs I visit (because I visit such high quality bloggers). The other thing I’m supposed to do is list five favorite words. I jotted down the five that jumped into my mind first, although there are many more I could add.
Grandma (when voiced by my grandson)
Superfluous
Pique
Serendipity
Scrumptious
What are your favorite words? What do you think of long words?
Superfluous
Pique
Serendipity
Scrumptious
What are your favorite words? What do you think of long words?
Thank you for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next Monday.
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