# What is the longest word in your language? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563 "2024-04-20T23:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/21 "2024-04-21T01:32:31Z")
As long as you are just making up words, in many languages (e.g., English, German…) it seems like it should be possible to string elements together to construct arbitrarily long coinings. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/22 "2024-04-21T01:34:48Z")
I don’t know about longest, but I’ve heard the hardest word is “sorry.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/23 "2024-04-21T01:35:50Z")
I agree. And, OP, not to oppress, but shouldn’t the person giving the word actually have spoken that language? You can Google til doomsday and keep coming up with very long foreign to your tongue, words. Just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/24 "2024-04-21T01:38:04Z")
I’m sorry(😉) Burpo. Seems easy to me. The hard part is realizing you’re at fault or have offended. Again, I’m sorry. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/25 "2024-04-21T01:45:53Z")
I didn’t really care for that song anyway. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/26 "2024-04-21T01:54:14Z")
Maybe “Hollywood”. One instance of it is 450 feet long. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/27 "2024-04-21T02:06:57Z")
Used to be even longer. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/28 "2024-04-21T02:16:22Z")
Ohhh! That one. I thought you meant another. You know the one, by that group, the band had a lefty bass player and a blond girl singer. You know. That song, by them. ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/29 "2024-04-21T02:33:15Z")
Im looking for long words, Im sure Wales would win for long place names ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/30 "2024-04-21T02:34:20Z")
Ha!!! ---
**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:** [April 21, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/31 "2024-04-21T02:46:22Z")
The longest word in the English language is _infinity_-it goes on forever. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/32 "2024-04-21T02:59:25Z")
I was in Austria visiting a (Austrian) friend and some kind of commercial car drove by with an extremely long word on the side of it, and I said, “what’s that?” She didn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/33 "2024-04-21T04:27:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The longest word in the English language is _infinity_-it goes on forever. The longest word in English is ‘smiles’. Because there’s a … oh nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/34 "2024-04-21T04:35:51Z")
> [@Loggins](#): > > Im looking for long words, Im sure Wales would win for long place names New Zealand enters the chat: > [TaumatawhakatangihangaKōauauoTamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu](https://thelongestplacename.co.nz/) That’s 85-letters. Apparently it is Maori and means: _“The hilltop where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, conqueror of mountains, eater of land, traveller over land and sea, played his kōauau (flute) to his beloved.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/35 "2024-04-21T04:59:58Z")
The Welsh one was artificially expanded in the Victorian era, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/36 "2024-04-21T05:19:48Z")
Jeez. That’s nearly a story! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/37 "2024-04-21T05:41:53Z")
In Mandarin, I’ve never yet encountered a word longer than 2 syllables, specifically, some people who have an unusual 2-syllable surname, such as Oyang or Zhuge. But someone can surely correct me. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/38 "2024-04-21T05:47:09Z")
Renminbi? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/39 "2024-04-21T06:08:56Z")
That’s three _characters_ - ren, min, and bi. My bad - I should have clarified. But then it also gets hard to distinguish at what point a character ends and a word begins, since renminbi technically is “People’s Currency”, which is more than one word. Unless the OP means actual words, not characters, in which case Chinese can string somewhat-long things together. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563/40 "2024-04-21T07:07:05Z")
I think we should distinguish between long words that may have some application but are somewhat artificial, and long words that are (fairly) commonly used. Quite a lot of languages can string words together to extreme lengths, as for instance [Rhabarberbarbarabar (etc.)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3_tRPRt9x8). If we only look at words that are used in everyday conversation, in Dutch you have for instance _spoorwegovergang_ (railroad crossing), _bibliotheekabonnement_ (library subscription), _luchtvaartmaatschappij_ (airline company), _vakbondsvertegenwoordiger_ (labour union representative). Dutch speakers won’t blink twice at these words. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-word-in-your-language/1000563.md?page=3)