When playing Scrabble, a seven or eight letter word, especially through a “Triple Word Score” can be a decisive moment, possibly something to tell the grandchildren about.
Fans of television show Countdown – hello students – may think that a nine letter word is the ultimate in human achievement and just cause for another Digestive (14 points in Scrabble).
But, when it comes to long words, many languages make English look a little underendowed. Discounting technical terms and those which have never made it into a respected dictionary, there are some spectacular words out there, such as:
Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft (79 letters), which was cited by the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest German word, although longer compounds are technically possible. It means “Association for subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services,” if you were wondering. It would fill more than two thirds of a scrabble board.
Speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode (51 letters), meaning “Period of stability planning for specialist doctor practice.” It’s the longest Danish word that has been used in an official context.
Kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamheden (49 letters), meaning “preparation activities for a children’s carnival procession,” was cited by the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Dutch word.
…which all goes to make our own antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters) seem rather lightweight. But then the disestablishment of the Church of England never did happen, so the Antidisestablishmentarians did ok.
Other languages may also suffer from a little size envy:
The longest French word is anticonstitutionnellement (25 letters), meaning “unconstitutionally”, and anticostituzionalissimamente (28 letters) is the longest grammatically correct Italian word. Anti-constitutional behaviour in France or Italy? Never!
Debate rages in Spain as to whether superextraordinarísimamente (27 letters), meaning “extremely superextraordinarily” is used enough to qualify as the longest Spanish word. Electroencefalografistas claim that their profession should be recognised as the longest word, but then they’re a fairly small group, without much clout in the world of grammar. And, as their name is highly technical, we’re plumping for superextraordinarísimamente, which sounds better anyway.
In Greece, λοπαδο τεμαχο σελαχο γαλεο κρανιο λειψανο δριμ υπο τριμματο σιλφιο καραβο μελιτο κατακεχυ μενο κιχλ επι κοσσυφο φαττο περιστερ αλεκτρυονοπτο κεφαλλιο κιγκλο πελειο λαγῳο σιραιο βαφη τραγανο πτερύγων (183 letters) is a popular dish. Ok, that’s not strictly true. It was made up by Aristophanes for his play Assemblywomen, but it’s kind of catchy!
Finally, what are hiccups officially called in Swedish? Hyperneuroakustiskadiafragmakontravibrationer (45 letters).
Have we missed any?
What do you think?