Long words!

Daniel123 · 2007-05-29 10:19:19

I was having a look on wikipedia at the longest words... and was rather shocked at the longest one!!

Methionylthreonylthreonyl...isoleucine = 189,819 letters long!!

acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylprolylserylglutaminyl-
phenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvalyltryptophylalanyl-
aspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylasparaginylvalylcysteinyl-
threonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutaminylphenylalanyl-
glutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginylthreonylthreonyl-
glutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylserylglutaminylvalyl-
tryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminylserylthreonylvalyl-
arginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosyllysylvalyltyrosyl-
arginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartylprolylleucylisoleucyl-
threonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylalanylaspartylthreonyl-
arginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylvalylglutamyl-
asparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreonylthreonylalanylglutamyl-
threonylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginylvalylaspartylaspartyl-
alanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylalanylasparaginylisoleucyl-
asparaginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylvalylarginylglycyl-
threonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminylasparaginylthreonyl-
phenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucylvalyltryptophyl-
threonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine = 1185 letters

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu = 86 letters (at least this one sounds cool.. you can practically hear the Maoris saying it)
And wikipedia says "this name is often shortened to Taumata"... often?!?!

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis = 45 letters

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism = 30 letters

Floccinaucinihilipilification = 29 letters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_word_in_English

My question - what is the point in these long words?! The first one especially, it is ridiculous! Who would even have the time to write a word that long (if you wrote two letters per second, it would take you over 26 hours to write it, just once!)

I doubt the word has actually ever been used - as no one could remember it to say it in conversation! "oh by the way, those striated muscle tissues you've got there, there's an important protein needed to maintain them called Methionylthreonylthreonyl...isoleucine".

Dont let biologists near the drugs cabinet again please.

Last edited by Daniel123 (2007-05-29 22:15:15)

mikau · 2007-05-29 10:47:55

know what..I'm skepticle. This is wikipedia afteral. That first one looks like some type of chemical name but someone could have just made that up.

luca-deltodesco · 2007-05-29 10:52:21

the 1185 one has the same words repeated over and over (by words, i refer to chemical, in otherwords, does not exist, is not a real word)

mathsyperson · 2007-05-29 10:53:54

Well, chemicals generally have a standard way of being named, so that people can tell what what their structure is. Each "methyonyl" corresponds to a branch of the molecule with a few atoms on it. So if the molecule has a very complicated structure, then it also has to have a ridiculously long name.

The more interesting question is the longest word used by members of the public.
Those chemical names clearly aren't, the pneumo one is only really used by scientists (and people talking about long words ), and you can say the same about the other words in that list.

Flocci... might just get away with it, but that's because I've made a subjective definition.

Fun fact: Hippopotomonstrosequippedaliophobia = fear of long words.

JaneFairfax · 2007-05-29 11:06:46

mathsyperson wrote:

Fun fact: Hippopotomonstrosequippedaliophobia = fear of long words.

Id have thought the fear of long words was dolichologophobia. Oh well.

Last edited by JaneFairfax (2007-05-29 11:09:47)

Ricky · 2007-05-29 11:31:53

I can't see to find any reputable source to confirm either. But from here:

I somehow doubt that hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is a genuine phobia in the sense that it's a clever construct that sounds genuine but, in fact, is simply put together to be an amusing and intentionally long word to invoke the fear it is meant to describe.
All phobias are derived from ancient greek - acrophobia is fear of heights, claustrophobia is fear of enclosed spaces, triskaidecaphobia is fear of the number 13. But the derivation of this word is:
hippos = horse (greek)
potamos = river (greek)
monstrum = portent (latin - etymology of monster and monstrous)
sesquipedalis = one and a half (latin - also means inordinately long.)
A sesquipedalian is someone who uses long words so this is closer to actually meaning something but the only problem is that it's latin. To be a true phobia with a proper greek etymology, the word for "fear of long words" should be something like dolichologophobia - from dolichos (long) logos (word) and phobia (fear).

They sound like they know what they're talking about...

Identity · 2007-05-29 20:22:09

If they have words for genetic coding, then that would be mega long.

xxbubblexx · 2007-05-30 00:31:21

My german teacher told us the longest word in german is: die Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitaetenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft. It can be shortened to der klub. it is judt a fancy word for a club or bar. lol

Stanley_Marsh · 2007-05-30 03:05:23

The longest Ive learned is "electroencephalogram"

Ma+th=fun · 2007-05-30 04:25:46

my dad says that really huge word isnt a word. he says none of the words are words at all

Last edited by Ma+th=fun (2007-05-30 04:58:34)

John E. Franklin · 2007-05-30 15:59:55

(made up long words that run into the next word)
FiddleHeadBandWagon
SnowManHoleInOneWayStreetTalkBackPackSnow
FallOutStandingWaterFall
RainBowTieDownTownHall

Identity · 2007-05-30 18:41:35

pnuemonoultramicrosopsiliconvolcaniosis is the longest one I can say off by heart.

JaneFairfax · 2007-05-30 20:47:57

I myself have actually been to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch before. Its on the Isle of Anglesey in NW Wales.

U7109 · 2007-05-30 21:30:31

That's got to be the longest name I've ever seen!

Daniel123 · 2007-05-30 21:42:31

Jane, your Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch beats my Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu by one letter! Trust the Welsh to have a name like that! (mine is the Maori name for a 300ft hill)

JaneFairfax · 2007-05-30 21:45:30

Chocó wrote:

That's got to be the longest name I've ever seen!

Its not really the longest name any more. It used to be the longest place name in the world, but I believe there are now places with even longer names.

JaneFairfax · 2007-05-30 21:47:51

Daniel123 wrote:

Jane, your Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch beats my Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu by one letter! Trust the Welsh to have a name like that! (mine is the Maori name for a 100m hill)

So that is a Maori place name then (just a Maori name for an object)?

Laterally Speaking · 2007-05-31 05:21:52

The two words posted at the beginning are chemical names, so I'm not sure whether they really can be counted as English words. Of course, if you do count chemical names, then the chemical name for human DNA or RNA has got to be the longest (I think that's what the very first on is).

I could probably invent some chemical with an even longer name, but it probably wouldn't have any use, so there's no point in spending all that time.

U7109 · 2007-06-02 19:56:20

JaneFairfax wrote:

There are now places with even longer names.

Whoa.

Last edited by Chocó (2007-06-02 19:57:02)

Mustbewrong · 2007-11-06 12:58:48

xxbubblexx wrote:

My german teacher told us the longest word in german is: die Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitaetenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft. It can be shortened to der klub. it is judt a fancy word for a club or bar. lol

Uhhhh
I know this is a ridiculous bump, "xxbubblexx" got his facts wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizit%C3%A4tenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

'nother fact, if a word is going to be shortened or contracted, it doesn't change it's gender. You changed from feminine (die) to masculine (der) and missed the translation completely.

Good try, though.

Identity · 2007-11-24 19:36:51

Hey everyone I have my Extension English Exam coming up tomorrow, and I really need help with a particular word. Is the word for the three subjects - logic, rhetoric and grammar, called the trivium, or the triumvir?

I've checked dictionary.com and all that and they say it's trivium, but my teacher said that it was triumvir! Please help, thanks.

mathsyperson · 2007-11-25 01:37:27

I have no idea which is right, but I'd guess that your teacher is more fallible than a dictionary.

Identity · 2007-11-25 01:40:02

Yes, I've decided to trust the dictionary... it's just funny because the entire class's cheat sheet refers to triumvir several times. It'd be funny if it were wrong.

Alg Num Theory · 2019-05-13 10:57:23

Stanley_Marsh wrote:

The longest Ive learned is "electroencephalogram"

It has the same number of letters as uncharacteristically – which is a far more commonly used word!

Jai Ganesh · 2019-05-13 16:59:30

floccinaucinihilipilification is quite a long word. floccinaucinihilipilification : The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless.

Math Is Fun Forum

#1 2007-05-29 10:19:19

Long words!

#2 2007-05-29 10:47:55

Re: Long words!

#3 2007-05-29 10:52:21

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