Sesquipedalianists, seek no longer.

Sesquipedalianists, seek no longer. Most actual and incipient logologists seem to pass through a phaseof being fascinated by long words, and raising such questions as what isthe longest word in English The longest word in English depends upon the definition of what constitutes an English word. English allows new words to be formed by construction; long words are coined; place names may be considered words; technical terms may be arbitrarily long. or American. One reason for the eventualpassing of this phase, for most of us, is the eventual realisation ofthe fact that, as incisively demonstrated by Ross Eckler in theintroduction to his book Word Recreations (1978), it is by no meanssimple to decide what counts as a word. Another is the fact that it becomes clear, after a while, that onlymoderate ingenuity is required to construct words of virtually anylength, especially if length is the only criterion. This is not to saythat the creation of charming words of great length may not be a funexercise all the same. The word SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS (34letters), and HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPEDALIAN (30), for example, weresurely worth the effort. A third, and flattening, discovery is that some of the bestcandidates for longest word are almost certainly frauds(PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosisa disease caused by the prolonged inhalation of fine siliceous dust. Also spelled pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.See also: Disease and Illness (45), in Webster's3rd Edition). A fourth realisation, and one that seems to take much of the pointout of the exercise, is that some scientific disciplines, for instancechemistry, can construct perfectly regular terms which reach anyspecifiable spec��i��fi��a��ble?adj.Possible to specify: specifiable complaints.Adj. 1. specifiable - capable of being specified; "specifiable complaints"identifiable - capable of being identified length--up to thousands of letters. Even rather lesstechnical disciplines such as psychology (ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY(27)) and philosophy (PHILOSOPHICOPSYCHOLOGICAL(25)) can be somewhatdisheartening dis��heart��en?tr.v. dis��heart��ened, dis��heart��en��ing, dis��heart��ensTo shake or destroy the courage or resolution of; dispirit. See Synonyms at discourage. in this way. Finally, there doesn't seem much point in looking forexceedingly long words which we are unlikely ever to encounter, exceptin some rare and possibly specialised circumstance, especially sincesuch words tend to become abbreviated or otherwise transmogrified forregular use. Thus most people, after visiting their E.N.T. specialist,would be surprised to discover they had just left theirOTORHINOLARYNGOLOGIST OtorhinolaryngologistA physician specializing in ear, nose, and throat diseases. Also known as otolaryngologist.Mentioned in: Vocal Cord Nodules and Polypsotorhinolaryngologist(21)). In spite of all these interest-damping factors I, for one, retain alittle of my initial fascination with word length, and cannot helpwondering what are the longest words which are likely to be encounteredin daily life--perhaps in conversation, or in the newspaper. It appearsothers share this more circumscribed circumscribed/cir��cum��scribed/ (serk��um-skribd) bounded or limited; confined to a limited space. cir��cum��scribedadj.Bounded by a line; limited or confined. interest, as I have come acrossseveral writers who raise, and attempt to answer, some approximation tothe question of what is the longest word in general use. The mostpopular answer is rather surprising--the word DISPROPORTIONABLENESS(21). To describe this word as being in general use seems tomeinappropriate. I do not recall ever having met it, except in the currentcontext, and would have to go to some trouble to find an excuse to useit. And there are, in fact, a number of far better candidates of thislength. The words COUNTERPRODUCTIVENESS, INDISTINGUISHABLENESS,INTERDENOMINATIONALLY, MICROMINIATURIZATIONS and COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY coun��ter��rev��o��lu��tion?n.1. A revolution whose aim is the deposition and reversal of a political or social system set up by a previous revolution.2. A movement to oppose revolutionary tendencies and developments. spring easily to mind. Without going very far into technological andspecialist areas, bearing in mind our implied embargo on suchspecialisation, one could add such terms as PSEUDOHERMAPHRODITISM pseudohermaphroditism/pseu��do��her��maph��ro��dit��ism/ (-her-maf��ro-dit-izm?) a state in which the gonads are of one sex, but one or more contradictions exist in the morphologic criteria of sex. In female p. ,PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGICAL and ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH e��lec��tro��en��ceph��a��lo��graphn.An instrument that generates a record of the electrical activity of the brain by measuring electric potentials using electrodes attached to the scalp. , with all of its longerderivatives. There are even a few longer words we might often see in ourdaily newspapers, words such as COUNTERREVOLUTIONARIES (22). Nevertheless, there do not, in fact, seem to be very many words ofmore than twenty letters which would meet a very strict criterion ofnon-technicality. This is surprising, since there seems to be quite alarge number of 20-letter words that are clearly nontechnical andunarguably in common use--words such as UNCHARACTERISTICALLY,COMPARTMENTALIZATION, CONTRADISTINGUISHING, INCONSEQUENTIALITIES,INDISTINGUISHABILITY, INSTITUTIONALIZATION, INTERNATIONALISATION (programming) internationalisation - (i18n, globalisation, enabling, software enabling) The process and philosophy of making software portable to other locales.For successful localisation, products must be technically and culturally neutral. ,OVERENTHUSIASTICALLY adv. 1. In an excessively enthusiastic manner. , OVERINTELLECTUALIZED and UNREPRESENTATIVENESSwhich none of us would be surprised to encounter. One of these,INSTITUTIONALIZATION, is of particular interest, as it forms the basisof a series of word developments leading to what must surely be the bestcurrent candidate for the longest word which cold plausibly be used incasual conversation. Several Western nations are currently operating a policy of closingresidential establishments for the mentally ill, and encouraging theabsorption of their inmates into the general community. The policy goesunder the name of DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION de��in��sti��tu��tion��al��i��za��tionn.The release of institutionalized people, especially mental health patients, from an institution for placement and care in the community. (22). Some people, of whom I amone, are strongly opposed to this policy. I am, in fact, anANTIDEINSTITUTIONALIZATIONIST (29). Indeed,ANTIDEINSTITUTIONALIZATIONISTICALLY (35) speaking ...PETER DELINBelair, South Australia