Do You Know the Longest Word?

 

Ask any self-respecting fan of pop culture what the longest word is and they’ll no doubt gleefully shout out, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” But the 34-letter word of Mary Poppins fame, is actually quite puny in comparison to some others. According to a recent report from NPR, there are two other contenders.

Leave it to Shakespeare to have a lengthy horse in the race. In his play Love's Labour's Lost, the character of Costard the clown utters the 27 letter tongue-twister “honorificabilitudinitatibus.” The Bard of Stratford on Avon used the Greek word just once, and it’s said to mean an ability to achieve honors.”

Still these words seem embarrassingly short to any scientists out there dabbling in chemical abstracts. They just may have mentioned this 1,185 letter masterpiece:

glutaminylphenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvalyltryptophylalanylaspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylasparaginylvalylcysteinylthreonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutaminylphenylalanylglutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginylthreonylthreonylglutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylserylglutaminylvalyltryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminylserylthreonylvalylarginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosyllysylvalyltyrosylarginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartylprolylleucylisoleucylthreonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylalanylaspartylthreonylarginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylvalylglutamylasparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreonylthreonylalanylglutamylthreo-nylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginylvalylaspar-tylaspartylalanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylalanylasparaginylisoleucylasparaginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylvalylarginylglycylthreonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminylasparaginylthreonylphenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucylvalyltryptophylthreonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine

Odds are you’ve never even heard the word let alone said it. But that doesn’t mean you haven’t uttered one of the longer expressions. There is one long word that you’ve probably bandied about once or twice. And you should feel really smart the next time you get in a dinner party chat about “antiestablishmentism.”

For more pop culture stories read:

Dick Van Dyke and His Two Marys – Poppins and Tyler Moore

QRANK Rules

  

Yvette Nicole Brown and Malcolm-Jamal Warner on Community

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