# What's the longest typable word by alternating hands?(left, right, left, right) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999 "2000-10-15T15:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/1 "2000-10-15T15:29:47Z")
Here it is worded a bit better: What is the longest word able to be typed by alternating hands (one letter on left side, one on right, next on left, etc.)? I got this given to me in a trivia chat room. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/2 "2000-10-15T16:19:30Z")
Easy: it’s the same as the longest regular word. Just hunt & peck for the first letter with your left hand, then hunt & peck for the second with your right hand, etc. (Yes, I know what you meant, I’m just a smartass.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/3 "2000-10-15T16:57:05Z")
From [A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia, Page 8](http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words8.html) > [@](#): > > DISMANTLEMENT is typed by alternating the use of both hands. Other such words are ANTIENDOWMENT, ANTISOCIAL, ANTISUDORIFIC, AUTHENTICITY, AUTOTOXICOSIS, CHAIRMAN, LEPTOTHRICOSIS, LEUCOCYTOZOANS, NEUROTOXICITY, PROFICIENT, RIFLEMAN, SHENANDOAH, SKEPTICISMS, SUSPENSORIAL LEPTOTHRICOSIS, from what a gathered from a Google search, is apparently another name for Actinomycosis, a bacterial disease known as “lumpy jaw”. LEUCOCYTOZOANS is the plural form of a parasitic bird protozoa. Both have 14 letters. [Edited by Alphagene on 10-15-2000 at 12:12 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/4 "2000-10-15T17:03:25Z")
Writing that perl script to check /usr/dict/words turns out to have been a waste of time. For the record, though, it cranked out “authenticity”. Guess I need a bigger dictionary. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sethdallob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@sethdallob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethdallob)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/5 "2000-10-15T17:06:29Z")
You probably knew this, but the longest word that can be typed all on the top row is “typerwriter” :0) ---
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/6 "2000-10-15T17:06:37Z")
On the link provided above it says: **Byron Davidson believes EIGHTY-SIX is the largest number which when spelled out is typed with alternating hands, ignoring the hyphen.** umm… would it be eighty-eight? ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/7 "2000-10-15T17:16:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sethdallob \* > \*\*You probably knew this, but the longest word that can be typed all on the top row is “typerwriter” :0) \*\* You mean “typewriter”, right? That has 10 letters but so do… > [@](#): > > PEPPERROOT, PEPPERWORT, PEWTERWORT, PIROUETTER, PREREQUIRE, PRETORTURE, PROPRIETOR, REPERTOIRE, REPETITORY, TETTERWORT And they are all top-row letters. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/8 "2000-10-15T17:31:00Z")
Unless, of course, the keyboard is the Dvorak layout 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/9 "2000-10-15T17:45:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MadHatter \* > \*\*On the link provided above it says: > > **Byron Davidson believes EIGHTY-SIX is the largest number which when spelled out is typed with alternating hands, ignoring the hyphen.** > > umm… would it be eighty-eight? > > \*\* How about when not spelled out? 9494949494949494949494949494949494… ---
**Author:** ![\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e47c2d/32.png) [@\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Tim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/10 "2000-10-15T20:49:14Z")
> [@](#): > > You mean “typewriter”, right? That has 10 letters but so do …(snip) And they are all top-row letters. Actually, there are three words with eleven letters matching this definition (depending on your dictionary, I suppose): proprietory, proterotype, rupturewort (from the single word spelling section of the rec.puzzles archive.) ---
**Author:** ![RESOL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@RESOL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RESOL)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/11 "2000-10-15T21:02:21Z")
the longest word without repeating a letter is uncopywritable ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/12 "2000-10-15T21:38:02Z")
Ajeudicowltivurmapenty 22 letters Adj: It’s how you describe a religious bovine showing up for a class on cartography. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/13 "2000-10-15T23:19:00Z")
So is stewardesses still tops for one handed words? ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-typable-word-by-alternating-hands-left-right-left-right/36999/14 "2000-10-16T01:10:44Z")
For fairly common words, sweaterdresses beats stewardesses by two letters.