This is something my friend Megan sent me

This week's theme: long words.

honorificabilitudinity (ON-uh-rif-i-kay-bi-li-too-DIN-i-tee, -tyoo-)
noun

  Honorableness.

[From Medieval Latin honorificabilitudinitas, from Latin honor.]

Another form of this, honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters), is the
longest word Shakespeare ever used. It comes out of the mouth of
Costard,
the clown, in Love's Labour's Lost:

"I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;
for thou art not so long by the head as
honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier
swallowed than a flap-dragon."

Note that its spelling alternates consonants and vowels. Some have used
an
anagram of this word to claim that Francis Bacon was the author of the
works
attributed to the Bard. Honorificabilitudinitatibus anagrams to the
Latin
"Hi ludi F. Baconis nati tuiti orbi." which means "These plays, F.
Bacon's
offspring, are preserved for the world." Of course, that doesn't prove
anything -- the word had been used by other writers earlier. And if you
torture words enough, they confess to anything. Have fun with anagrams

This week's theme: loong words.

antidisestablishmentarianism, noun
(an-tee-dis-eh-stab-lish-men-TAYR-ee-uh-niz-em)

  Opposition to separation of the church and state.

[From Latin anti- (against) + dis- (apart, away) + English establish,
from
Latin stabilire, from stare (to stand) + -arian (one who supports) +
Greek
-ism (practice or state).]

At 28 letters, it's the best-known example of a long word. Here's how
you
can parse the word: one of the meanings of the word establishment is
making
a church an institution of the state. In the late 19th century England,
there
was a movement for the separation of the church and state:
disestablishment.
Those opposed to the idea of separation were
antidisestablishmentarians.
You can see where it's going. Why not a
contraantidisestablishmentarianism?

-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)

 "As we said yesterday, the case for antidisestablishmentarianism has
never
  been more threadbare. And if the case for the sovereign as head of a
  meaningful faith has gone, then the case for the sovereign has
changed
  too."
  Royal Wedding: Crowning Nonsense; The Guardian (London, UK); Apr 9,




I like the really really long one the best
2005.




This week's theme: loooong words.

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, noun
(NOO-muh-noh-UL-truh-MY-kruh-SKOP-ik-SIL-i-koh-VOL-kay-no-koh-NEE-o-sis,
nyoo-)

  A lung disease caused by inhaling fine particles of silica.

[From New Latin, from Greek pneumono- (lung) + Latin ultra- (beyond,
extremely) + Greek micro- (small) + -scopic (looking) + Latin silico
(like sand) + volcano + Greek konis (dust) + -osis (condition).]

Even though we have included the pronunciation of this word, we advise
caution lest you may have to avail the services of an
otorhinolaryngologist
(a throat, nose, and ear specialist).

At 45 letters, it's the longest word in any English language
dictionary.
It's a trophy word -- its only job is to serve as the longest word. In
day-to-day use, its nine-letter synonyms "silicosis" or "black lung"
work
just as well, and the latter is more descriptive. Whatever you call it,
it is deadly. Here's the story of an incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawk's_Nest_incident

And what's the shortest word in the English language? There are a
number of
them: A, I, O, but we'll have to give it to I which is the skinniest as
well.

-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)

 "This time the messages were longer and nastier. 'What on earth is
the
  matter with you? Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis?'"
  Marion Thomas; Mystery Writer; Curriculum Corporation; 1998.

............................................................................
You will find relief from vain fancies if you do every act in life as
though it were your last. -Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and writer
(121-180)
at
http://wordsmith.org/anagram