# Compound words that make you say "What?!" including ones that make you wince \[ spun off from What Were You THINKING Pit thread \] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104 "2026-01-26T16:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/21 "2026-01-27T02:33:18Z")
the Marks & Spencer Family seems to be similarily large (and may I say: successful) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/22 "2026-01-27T12:22:08Z")
I’ve remarked in the past that when driving country roads in hilly terrain you’ll often come upon a cut through a slope where they filled the surrounding lower areas with the removed dirt so the road runs closer to flat. Every one of those cuts has a “Do Not Pass” sign. All named after the famed Colonel DoNot who was an itinerant roads engineer in the late 1800s. And a raging egomaniac. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/23 "2026-01-27T13:14:44Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Antidisestablishmentarianism `pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis` I used to be able to trot that out to “impress” my nerdy friends. As it happens, it took a long time before I got laid. It is a disease affecting the lungs of miners (predominantly coal miners). It is apparently the longest word in English. While I can I identify with antidisesestablishmentalrialists, in many ways, in the eyes of the establishment, via the Oxford Dictionary, they have lost the battle. This, unfortunately, is the second longest word. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/24 "2026-01-27T13:21:14Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > The Indonesian word for “teeth” is “gigi,” and a dentist is a “Dokter Gigi,” or “tooth doctor.” I loved the fact that dentists all over Indonesia used a large molar tooth as the “universal” symbol for “dentist”. I am grateful I never needed their medical care. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/25 "2026-01-27T13:38:46Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Hey, this is one of the very few instances where the English word is longer than the German translation! In German, it’s just “Staublunge”, which means “dust lung”. ---
**Author:** ![LouMa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/louma/32/19472_2.png) [@LouMa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouMa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/26 "2026-01-27T13:39:09Z")
Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung 😇😇 ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/27 "2026-01-27T13:44:31Z")
Oh, Germany. Oh, how you have failed us linguists. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/28 "2026-01-27T13:55:35Z")
In English the common term for coal miners’ occupational malady is “Black Lung”. Medics might have a fancier Latinate technical term, but they have a fancy word for everything. For legit reasons of course, but it’s still a topic of humor. More completely, @scudsucker’s neato word is in fact a joke perpetrated on puzzlers, not a legit medical term: > **[Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis)** > > Pneumono­ultra­micro­scopic­silico­volcano­coniosis (/ˌnjuːmənoʊˌʌltrəˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpɪkˌsɪlɪkoʊvɒlˌkeɪnoʊˌkoʊniˈoʊsɪs/ ⓘ NEW-mə-noh-ul-trə-mye-krə-SKOP-ik-SIL-ih-koh-vol-KAY-noh-koh-nee-OH-sis) is a 45-letter word coined in 1935 by Everett M. Smith, the then-president of the National Puzzlers' League. It has sometimes been used as a synonym for the occupational disease known as silicosis, but it should not be, as most silicosis is not related to mining of volcanic dusts. Silicosis is a form of Cl... And in any case is meant to apply to a type of miner’s occupational disease having nothing to do with coal mining. With a few extra unneeded syllables thrown in just to stretch it out. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/29 "2026-01-27T14:11:47Z")
Personally, I prefer [Disodium (12S,14aR,15aS,16aR,17aS,18Z,110aR,111aS,112aR,113aS,114aR,116R,117R,118aS,119aR,121aS,122aR,123aS,124aR,125aS,126aR,127aS,22S,24aR,25aS,26aR,27aS,28aR,29aS,211R,212R,213aR,214S,214aS,215aR,217aS,218aR,219aS,32R,33R,34aS,36S,37R,38R,38aS,5R,7R,82S,83R,84aS,86R,87R,88R,88aS,92R,93R,94R,94aS,95aS,96aR,97aS,98R,99R,910S,911aR,912aS,913aR,914R,914aR,11S,12R,132S,133R,134S,134aS,135aR,136aS,137aR,138S,138aS,1310S,1311R,1312aR,1313aS,1314aR,1315aS,1317R,1317aR)-12-[(1S,2R,4R,5S)-1,2-dihydroxy-4,5-dimethyloct-7-en-1-yl]-117,211,214,33,37,38,5,7,83,87,88,93,94,98,914,11,12,133,134,138,1311,1317-docosahydroxy-14a,15a,16a,114a,116,119a,121a,122a,25a,27a,29a,214a,217a,1313a,1315a-pentadecamethyl-132-[(2R,3R,4R,7S,8R,9R,11R,13E)-3,8,11,15-tetrahydroxy-4,9,13-trimethyl-12-methylidene-7-(sulfonatooxy)pentadec-13-en-2-yl]-13,14,14a,15a,16,16a,17a,110,110a,111a,112,112a,113a,114,114a,116,117,118,118a,119a,120,121,121a,122a,123,123a,124a,125,125a,126a,127,127a,22,23,24,24a,25a,26,26a,27a,28,28a,29a,210,211,212,213a,214,214a,215a,216,217,217a,218a,219,219a,32,33,34,34a,36,37,38,38a,82,83,84,84a,86,87,88,88a,93,94,94a,95a,96,96a,97a,98,99,910,911a,912,912a,913a,914,914a,133,134,134a,135a,136,136a,137a,138,138a,1310,1311,1312,1312a,1313a,1314,1314a,1315a,1316,1317,1317a-octahectahydro-12H,92H,132H-1(16)-pyrano[2′′′ ′,3′′′ ′:5′′′,6′′′]pyrano[2′′′,3′′′:6′′,7′′]oxepino[2′′,3′′:5′,6′]pyrano[2′,3′:5,6]pyrano[3,2-b]pyrano[2′′′,3′′′:5′′,6′′]pyrano[2′′,3′′:5′,6′]pyrano[2′,3′:5,6]pyrano[2,3-g]oxocina-2(2,12)-bis(pyrano[2′′,3′′:5,6]pyrano[2′,3′:5,6]pyrano)[3,2-b:2′,3′-f]oxepina-13(10)-pyrano[3,2-b]pyrano[2′′′,3′′′:5′′,6′′]pyrano[2′′,3′′:5′,6′]pyrano[2′,3′:5,6]pyrano[2,3-f]oxepina-9(2,10)-dipyrano[2,3-e:2′,3′-e′]pyrano[3,2-b:5,6-b′]dipyrana-3,8(2,6)-bis(pyrano[3,2-b]pyrana)tridecaphan-99-yl sulfate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitotoxin). ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/30 "2026-01-27T14:17:42Z")
I would post the full name of the protein “titin”, but it [would probably break the board.](https://thewildlife.blog/2021/12/07/full-titin-protein-name-is-189819-letter-longest-english-word/) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/31 "2026-01-27T14:20:27Z")
Which is but the teeniest start on spelling out the contents of one strand of DNA, much less all the varieties available in a single person. OTOH, you can print a copy of _War and Peace_ with all the spaces and punctuation squeezed out. Arguably it means the same as a more conventional printing. But it’s a lot harder to read. And when you get all done with that million-character “word”, its definition is still “The novel _War and Peace_”. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/32 "2026-01-27T16:10:31Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > `pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis` > > I used to be able to trot that out to “impress” my nerdy friends. As it happens, it took a long time … > > SNIP > > It is apparently the longest word in English. Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsmütze … (us “germans” coming out of our holes) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/33 "2026-01-27T16:13:25Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > This, unfortunately, is the second longest word. At only four letters long? That’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/34 "2026-01-27T16:31:58Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Kind of like the longest street in the US: Frontage Road As a kid who loved looking at maps, I was convinced _Vicinity_ was some really large, important city and was frustrated that never could figure out where it was. You know, how Rand McNally atlases used to have the little inset maps; Chicago and vicinity, Indianapolis and Vicinity, etc. It **had** to be a big town to be near all these different places, right? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/35 "2026-01-27T17:17:12Z")
It’s been renamed [Springfield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_(toponym)) since you were a child. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/36 "2026-01-27T17:59:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Every one of those cuts has a “Do Not Pass” sign. All named after the famed Colonel DoNot who was an itinerant roads engineer in the late 1800s. And a raging egomaniac. > [@More Jokes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-jokes/848629/7219): > > Once, long ago there was an Indian tribe with a princess, Rising Moon. There were two braves who loved her, Running Bear and Falling Rocks. For over a year she dithered about which she preferred and as you can imagine things were getting pretty intense between the two rivals. Finally, her father’d had enough. “Since she cannot make up her mind,” he said, “I shall decide for her: The brave who can provide for her best shall have her hand. You, Running Bear go that way and you, Falling Rocks… ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/37 "2026-01-27T18:24:01Z")
In Dutch we get as far as Hottentottententententoonstellingsterrein. And of course my medical background gives me the sternocleidomastoid muscle. I’ve learned the Black Lung/Staublung/stoflong in Dutch as pneumoconiosis. I like the new one 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/38 "2026-01-27T19:09:32Z")
Tell me more about the Hottentotten … (which seems to be a historic reference to one of Africas Tribes/nations, which sounds oddly familiar, in a 1870ies kind of way, how “wilds” were portrayed). There is even a limerick somewhat famous in my youth: (there is a sector/metro station in Vienna, quite known: Schottentor) the limerick goes: _Der Friseur am Schottentor,_ _der stets die Hottentotten schor …_ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/39 "2026-01-27T19:21:53Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Tell me more about the Hottentotten … Well, I don’t know much about the ethnicity as such, but I do know that the people who used to be called “Hottentotten” in Dutch and German speaking countries are a people in what is now South Africa. The Dutch colonists gave them the name because it mocks their way of speech, which was unfamiliar and strange to them. So it’s a racist and demeaning moniker that shouldn’t be used anymore. For an example of how offensive it is, here’s a German saying I remember from my youth in the 70s: When someone entered an untidy and disheveled room or other place, maybe a parent a child’s room, they would say: “Hier sieht’s ja aus wie bei den Hottentotten!” “It looks like at the Hottentots in here” So, very bad, and very racist. > **[Hottentot (racial term)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hottentot_(racial_term))** > > Hottentot (English and German language /ˈhɒtənˌtɒt/ HOT-ən-TOT) is a term that was historically used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, the indigenous nomadic pastoralists in South Africa. Use of the term Hottentot is now considered offensive by some, with one preferred alternative name for the non-Bantu speaking indigenous people of the Western Cape area being Khoekhoe (formerly Khoikhoi).\[a\] > Hottentot originated among the "old Dutch" settlers of the Dutch Cape Colony run by United East Ind... ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/40 "2026-01-27T22:15:35Z")
Yep. It’s very old and very racist and you’re right. We haven’t even made the effort to think up a new non-racist one in the meantime. I don’t think it’s still being used, so there’s that. At least I’m already in the right thread. I realized it wasn’t a really nice term, I didn’t realize it was that offensive. More like Indian instead of native American. I sincerely apologize. And will refrain from using the term in the future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104.md?page=3)