Editor's Corner

Good morning. It’s Fun with Words Day today. Dictionary.com recently sent a wonderful article about the longest English words in various categories. I found it fascinating, so I decided to share some of them with you. Most of the content below is directly from their website.

· methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…

This is the longest word of all. It’s a chemical name with over 180,000 letters. If you tried to say it out loud, it would take you over three hours to get it out! “Its absurd length is due to the fact that proteins get their scientific names by combining the names of all of their joined amino acids together.” It does not appear in the dictionary.

· pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

At 45 letters long, this is the longest word you’ll find in an English dictionary. “According to many sources, it was coined around 1935 by Everett Smith, who at the time was the president of the National Puzzlers’ League. The word, which was basically engineered for its length, refers to a lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust.”

· antidisestablishmentarianism

I remember my little sister learning how to spell this word in elementary school. Although it’s a real word, it is rarely used except to show off that you know how to say and spell a very long word. It refers to “to opposition to withdrawing support from the Anglican Church as the state church of 19th-century England.”

· honorificabilitudinitatibus

I decided to share this word because of my love of Shakespeare. He used it in his play Love’s Labour’s Lost. It means “capable of receiving honor,” and one really interesting thing about this word is that it’s the longest English word in which the consonants and vowels alternate back and forth. How cool is that?

· uncharacteristically

Why is this word included, you ask? It’s because this is often said to be the longest word the average English speaker commonly see or uses in everyday life. This adverb describes something “as not being typical or acting in a characteristic way.”

· uncopyrightables

While most of us don’t actually use this word, it is pretty easy to figure out what it means—unlike the long scientific words. Dictionary.com included it in their list because it’s an isogram, which means that no letter is repeated. Now, I’ve got you, right? This is pretty cool stuff!

· rhythms

I bet you’re already trying to figure out why this word is included. And I bet you got it. This is thought to be the longest English word that does not include one of the five main vowels.

· squirreled

And this is my favorite. Can you figure out why it’s included? I’ll give you a hint. It has to do with pronunciation. In some regions of the U.S., this word rhymes with curled, which makes it the longest one-syllable word in the English language. I love the way my spouse says the word squirrel. With his British accent, it definitely has two syllables, and sounds like this.

Enjoy the day. Squirrel away some time to have fun.

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry™

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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