Straight Dope Message Board

[Czarcasm]

Why use a whole sentence when one word will do...even if that one word is longer than the original sentence.

A guy by the name of Michael Longcor introduced me to this one-Rhinotellexomania.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Pneumonoultramiscroscopicsilicovolcanoconioisis; been a favorite of mine since I discovered it in the dictionary when I was like 10 years old.

[RealityChuck]

Sesquipedalian. First of all, it describes itself. Second, I like the way it sounds and tastes. Third, it's perfect for Clerlihews.

[Robot Arm]

Linguistically, I'm rather fond of poronkusema:

Compound of poron (“reindeer's”) +‎ kusema (“peed by”); the distance a reindeer could travel without stopping to urinate.

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

A guy by the name of Michael Longcor introduced me to this one-Rhinotellexomania.

It's bad enough to link to a seven-minute video with no explanation. Even worse is a really annoying seven-minute video.

[CalMeacham]

Don't know if they're my favorites, but I have a weakness for the names of complex mathematical solids

Even the relatively simple Dodecahedron and Icosahedron. But then the Cuboctahedron and Rhombicuboctahedron and the Rhombicosidodecahedron and other Archimedean solids that can be described with a single word.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Can I list a second one? It's a word I learned a couple of decades ago that I have never once seen used in anything not written by me; I'll use it in a sentence and y'all can see if you can guess the meaning from the context:

President Donald Trump is a fucking snollygoster.

SPOILER:

snollygoster: a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician.

[Skammer]

I've always been sentimental about antidisestablishmentarianism and coprophagia. Wait, let me rephrase that...

[TreacherousCretin]

Koyaanisqatsi.

[justmeinsb]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

Why use a whole sentence when one word will do...even if that one word is longer than the original sentence.

A guy by the name of Michael Longcor introduced me to this one-Rhinotellexomania.

Deliquescence. I just learned this word yesterday in a poem on that poetry site Garrison Keillor does the podcast for.

[DSYoungEsq]

While it is not a long word, it has four syllables, which I suppose makes it sufficiently polysyllabic. Since I was a young lad, I have been a fan of suffonsify, meaning satisfied. My grandfather often would use it as follows after an inquiry if he wanted more food at dinner, "My sufficiency has been suffonsified; any more would be a copious redundancy." I learned years later that the word was used mainly in Canada and Michigan, an area from which he hailed.

[Darren Garrison]

I'm going with tintinnabulation for some reason.

[Inner Stickler]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

Sesquipedalian. First of all, it describes itself. Second, I like the way it sounds and tastes. Third, it's perfect for Clerlihews.

Have you met my friend hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian?

Me, I like susurration.

[Gatopescado]

Diabolical.

[Don Draper]

antidisestablishmentarianism is always a good one.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Originally Posted by TreacherousCretin

Koyaanisqatsi.

Good word; great film!

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Obviosity.

[PatrickLondon]

[QUOTE=Snowboarder Bo;20502837]

President Donald Trump is a fucking snollygoster.

And a twitterguffer

[Elendil's Heir]

"Absquatulate," which was a mock-Latin word in pre-Civil War America meaning "to get the hell out of here."

"Defenestration," meaning the throwing of something out of a window. When I was teaching rowing and canoeing at Scout summer camp many years ago, I put up a sign at the waterfront reading "Absolutely no defenestration allowed." In those pre-cellphone days, no one knew what it meant but me. (There are even two historical examples, both in Prague: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague).

[Shoeless]

Callipygian

[terentii]

Prestidigitation is the first thing that came to my mind. I'm also partial to exsanguination, defenestration, mendacity, and corpulence.

[terentii]

Also, Styxian and Phrygian. (Not that long, I know, but neat nevertheless.)

[terentii]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

"Defenestration," meaning the throwing of something out of a window.

Also, "falling out a window." The first time I encountered this word was in one of the later books of Gore Vidal's America series. I knew immediately what it meant from having studied both Latin and German.

How about antebellum for pre-CW America, antedeluvian for pre-Flood history, and antipodean with respect to Scott and Amundsen?

Can you say antipastean where dinner is concerned?

[Snowboarder Bo]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

"Defenestration," meaning the throwing of something out of a window.

I learned this one because of the band back in the '80s.

[Tim R. Mortiss]

"Monosyllabic" is possibly the most ironic word in the English language.

[Czarcasm]

Originally Posted by Tim R. Mortiss

"Monosyllabic" is possibly the most ironic word in the English language.

I think it ties with "Abbreviation".

[furryman]

Googleplex, although you could never use it in RL.

[Inner Stickler]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

I think it ties with "Abbreviation".

Phonetic could be in there too.

[Chronos]

Quoth CalMeacham:

Don't know if they're my favorites, but I have a weakness for the names of complex mathematical solids

Solids? Pshaw. I can out-dimension you with the example I was going to post anyway, "hyperparallelopiped".

[Kimble]

I like conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomy, a surgical procedure that sticks a glass tube between the corner of your eye and the inside of your nose. (That's the longest word I've seen in the wild.) Honorable mention goes to eleemosynary for the funky Greek spelling/pronunciation combo.

[gaffa]

Having recently re-read Pratchett, I'll mention one of his favorites: susurration

He seemed to work it into many of his Discworld novels.

[movingfinger]

Try ferroequinology: the study of iron horses; i.e, locomotives

[Quartz]

I'm partial to gruntled.

Originally Posted by terentian

Also, Styxian and Phrygian.

Did you mean [i]Stygian[i]?

[CalMeacham]

Originally Posted by Chronos

Solids? Pshaw. I can out-dimension you with the example I was going to post anyway, "hyperparallelopiped".

Higher dimensionality does not equate with "better"


I have it on the authority of Mr. Square of Flatland.

[naita]

I'm partial to discombobulated.

[CalMeacham]

Originally Posted by CalMeacham

Higher dimensionality does not equate with "better"


I have it on the authority of Mr. Square of Flatland.

Yendred of the Planiverse agrees, as does Eck from The Outer Limits.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by furryman

Googleplex, although you could never use it in RL.

I'm sure it's used commonly and I've even used it several times myself. But I suspect you mean "googolplex." (And I'm sure I can come up with an example where it would make sense when discussing combinatorics, but it'd be pretty narrow and probably a bit contrived.) This is the Googleplex, by the way.

[pulykamell]

For, me, since learning it as a kid, and it's an obvious one, is floccinaucinihilipilification. Now, granted, I may have used that word only once or twice in real life, tongue-in-cheek, with somebody who would be familiar with it (or otherwise enjoy its use), but it always gives me a smile.

[JustinC]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

For, me, since learning it as a kid, and it's an obvious one, is floccinaucinihilipilification. Now, granted, I may have used that word only once or twice in real life, tongue-in-cheek, with somebody who would be familiar with it (or otherwise enjoy its use), but it always gives me a smile.

Just beat me to it!

I use it when playing hangman with non-native speakers, it's actually much easier to get than short words (like 'sky') because it has so many different letters.

Oh, and this.

[terentii]

Originally Posted by Quartz

Did you mean [i]Stygian[i]?

Probably. But I think it's cooler with an x.

[Nava]

Defenestrate.

Several years ago I found out that as a child I presented papyrophagia. That manages to make "munching on the corners of paper" sound like it's something terribly dangerous.

[Czarcasm]

A word I grew fond of from reading Doc Savage pulps was William Harper Littlejohn's "Superamalgamated".

[Annie-Xmas]

Some of these words are really Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. But is there any song with them in the lyrics?

[furryman]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

I'm sure it's used commonly and I've even used it several times myself. But I suspect you mean "googolplex." (And I'm sure I can come up with an example where it would make sense when discussing combinatorics, but it'd be pretty narrow and probably a bit contrived.) This is the Googleplex, by the way.

Hyperbole:
I've got a googolplex of things to do today.

[furryman]

Originally Posted by Annie-Xmas

Some of these words are really Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. But is there any song with them in the lyrics?

I know you being humorous but:
The Tom Lehrer song Elements has a lot of long words in it.

Possible not in the song but two of my favorites are:
Rubdium
and Ytterbium.

[gigi]

Bicenquinquagenary for a 250th anniversary

For one I'd actually use, mellifluous

[snfaulkner]

Blowjob

[Prof. Pepperwinkle]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

Why use a whole sentence when one word will do...even if that one word is longer than the original sentence.

A guy by the name of Michael Longcor introduced me to this one-Rhinotellexomania.

As a long time lover of filk music at SciFi/Fantasy conventions, I've heard him do this live. There was another filker present, named Tom Smith, dubbed "The World's Fastest Filker". The two have a longstanding friendly rivalry. After Longcor finished the song in question, he looked at Tom and said "Betcha can't filk that!". Tom left the room. People looked at their watches. 14 minutes later Tom returned and present the group with a song (to the same tune), called "Mucoidal Peridontia", which isn't about picking your nose, it's about eating the booger after its picked.


Favorite long words include:

quisquilious - having the nature of refuse or rubbish

and

bathycolpian - deep-bosomed, which goes well with
callipygean - having a well-shaped bottom.

[Czarcasm]

Originally Posted by Prof. Pepperwinkle

As a long time lover of filk music at SciFi/Fantasy conventions, I've heard him do this live. There was another filker present, named Tom Smith, dubbed "The World's Fastest Filker". The two have a longstanding friendly rivalry. After Longcor finished the song in question, he looked at Tom and said "Betcha can't filk that!". Tom left the room. People looked at their watches. 14 minutes later Tom returned and present the group with a song (to the same tune), called "Mucoidal Peridontia", which isn't about picking your nose, it's about eating the booger after its picked.

I've been to many a filk concert at many a convention....and I am so fucking jealous right now.

[terentii]

Not just triskaidekaphobia but friggatriskaidekaphobia!

[krondys]

Magnanimous is one I use often in conversation, but the already-multiply-mentioned antidisestablishmentarianism is usually what I trot out for my kids if talk turns to long words.

Defenestration is a great word- it always makes me think of David Eddings's Sparhawk books.

The giantess Mirtai: "I defenestrated him."
The Knight Kalten: "Mirtai! That's a terrible thing to do to a man!"
Mirtai: "What, throwing him out of a window?"
Kalten: "That's what that word means?"