The Curious World of Words!
By Arakkal. M. Sebastian
The longest words in English
1. HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS (27 LETTERS)
This word occurs in Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost,
and means 'with honourablenesses'
2. FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPIPIFICATION (29 LETTERS)
This is found in the Oxford English Dictionary, and means 'the
action or habit of estimating something as worthless.'
3. PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS
(45 LETTERS) Found in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary,
8th Edition. It is a pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation
of very fine silicate or quartz dust.
4. BABABADLGHARAGHTAKAMMINARRONNKONNBRONN-
TONNERRONNTUONNTHUNNTROVARRHOUNAWNSKAWN-
TOOHOOHOORDENENTHURNUK (100 LETTERS)
This word is on the first page of Finnegans wake by James Joyce
and is a symbolic thunder clap representing the fall of
Adam and Eve.
The most commonly used words in written English
1. The
2. Of
3. And
4. A
5. To
6. In
7. Is
8. You
9. That
10. It
11. He
12. For
(Source: American
Heritage Word Frequency Book)
The largest Dictionary
The largest dictionary now published is the 12-volume Royal
quarto The Oxford English Dictionary of 15,487 pages published
between 1884 and 1928 with a first supplement of 963 pages in
1933 with a further 4 volume supplement, edited by R.W.
Burchfield. The work contains 414825 words, 1827306 illustrative
quotations and reputedly 227779589 letters and figures.
The longest abbreviation
The longest abbreviation is S.O.M.K.H.P.B.K.J.C.S.S.D.P.M.W.D.T.B.
The initials of the Sharikat Orang-orang melayu Kerajaan hilir
Perak Berker Jasama-Serkerjasama Kerana Jimat Chermat
Serta Simpanon Dan Pinjam Meminjam Wang Dengan
Tanggonnan Berhad. This is the Malay name for the Lower Perak,
Malay Government Servants' Co-operative Thrift and Loar Society
Limited in Telok Anson, Perak State, West Malaysia.
Copy right 2003 Arakkal. M. Sebastian sebastianam@sabic.com
About the Author:
Arakkal. M. Sebastian is a re-seller of e-commerce
solutions packages, internet service providing in US and Canada,
domain name registration services, and other services to start
successfull online businesses with excellent customer support!
Please visit him HERE.
