# Longest word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128 "2002-12-27T08:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_duke\_69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@the\_duke\_69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_duke_69)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/1 "2002-12-27T08:41:13Z")
what is the longest word in the english language? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/2 "2002-12-27T08:43:54Z")
This [Cecil’s Mailbag column](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mantidis.html) should prove helpful. ---
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/3 "2002-12-27T08:46:00Z")
I believe its supercalafrajalisticexpealadocious (sp?) ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/4 "2002-12-27T08:52:40Z")
And I believe that’s not even a word at all. See the link for the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![fauxpas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e480ec/32.png) [@fauxpas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fauxpas)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/5 "2002-12-27T09:01:03Z")
Your right again neutron star…word of thought…sarcasm was being used before…lol ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/6 "2002-12-27T10:57:45Z")
The folks behind the [Oxford English Dictionary](http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=114) say: > [@](#): > > Most of the words which are given as “the longest word” are merely inventions, and when they occur it is almost always as examples of long words, rather than as genuine examples of use. You may want to ask, then, “what is the longest _real_ – or commonly used – word in English?” But I’d wager that you’ll get bogged down with defining “common” and “real” at this point, and you may never come to a satisfactory conclusion. Regarding the 1,913-letter “word” given in the Staff Report cited earlier, Oxford says: > [@](#): > > The formal names of chemical compounds are almost unlimited in length…Dictionary writers tend to regard such names as “verbal formulae”, rather than as English words. So…ummm…what was my point? Uhhh…well, I don’t know. And maybe nobody knows, either. But hey, I’ve been proven wrong before. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/7 "2002-12-27T10:59:54Z")
Crap, that was the wrong link (it was for another question on the boards a few minutes ago). Try this: > **[Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](https://languages.oup.com)** > > Explore Oxford Languages, the home of world-renowned language data. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/8 "2002-12-27T14:10:17Z")
An earlier thread on this subject: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=6826](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=6826) ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-word/145128/9 "2002-12-27T17:15:52Z")
Not only is “supercalafrajalisticexpealadocious” a word, but here is a [**Straight Dope Staff Report**](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msupercali.html) that answers the question. 😉 [sup]Just a little teaser[/sup] > [@](#): > > **Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, the word supposedly coined by Mary Poppins to make kids sound “precocious,” was actually invented by turn-of-the-century Scottish coal miners. It was used to request “the works” from prostitutes by men too shy to recite specific acts.**