Folium: The Longest Word in the English Language via Gizmodo
Folium: The Longest Word in the English Language via Gizmodo
Folium: The Longest Word in the English Language via Gizmodo
We have often discussed on Folium the “flexibility” of the English language, and this is just another example of just how far the rules of language can be pushed (which, to find out, is pretty far).
The adaptability of English tends to be a two-edged sword, making it incredibly versatile while simultaneously making it near-impossible to master for non-native speakers. Now, in this case, since we’re talking about the name of a protein strand in DNA, you could make the argument that science speaks their own language, but additional research says it counts as English, so there ya go.
The longest word in English has 189,819 letters and would take you three and a half hours to pronounce correctly. Seriously. It’s the chemical name of Titin (or connectin), a giant protein “that functions as a molecular spring which is responsible for the passive elasticity of muscle.” – Gizmodo
But what really takes this snapshot of language over the top is the following YouTube video.
This is a real person, making a real recording, pronouncing the longest word in the English language. If not anything else, it’s a testament to verbal dedication!
Before this linguistic beast, what was the longest word that you knew? And on the other hand, what is the hardest word for you to pronounce out loud?
Resources:
- Gizmodo: The Longest Word in the English Language
- Wikipedia: Titin (Connectin)
- YouTube / Orkhanoid: The Longest Word in the English Language (Pronounced)
The LEAF Project
www.leaflanguages.org
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
