Pictured above is the longest word in the English language. It's a slang term for a disease incurred by inhaling silicone dioxide. Sam Kean has a story at NPR's website describing the difficult task of defining a "word" so that one may determine which is the longest.
For example, do the names for chemical chains count? Does a word have to be published to qualify? Should words intentionally created to be the longest be considered real words? Kean lists the six words that qualify under various criteria. Which do you think is the best case for the longest word?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/01/21/133052745/whats-the-longest-word-in-the-english-language? via Kottke
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It is, in fact "antidisestablishmentarianism".
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This is an easy one...The longest word is "floccinaucinihilipilification" the act of teaching as worthless. It appears in a couple different forms in at least one Heinlein novel-"Time Enough for Love". I can thank my warped highschool English teacher Mr. Sheehy for this one. It's been stuck in my head for 25 years.
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If chemical names count, there is a a compound thats over 168,000 letters in total, I forget what its shortened name is though =/
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The aforementioned story concludes that this fails the not-a-word test. Don't you even read your own linked articles?
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Is that one spelled correctly? I always thought it was "-volcaniconiosis".
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