# Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübert ragungsgesetz



## Guest (Jun 4, 2013)

Incredible, but true !
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201...achungsaufgabenbertragungsgesetz-word-germany


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

TalkingHead said:


> Incredible, but true !
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201...achungsaufgabenbertragungsgesetz-word-germany


It's an aria from a Wagner opera.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

In Finnish the officially longest word has 46 letters

Järjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> Incredible, but true !
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201...achungsaufgabenbertragungsgesetz-word-germany


Great!!!

There are actually some longer ones, but, like RkReÜAÜG never appear in dictionaries. The Daily Telegraph also had an article on it with some longer German words and the longest English word and the longest British place name.

Reminds one of the two tourists who went into a cafe next to the station in LLanfairPG and asked the waitress how to pronounce the name of the place, really slowly so they could work it out. She looked at them and said in an impeccable Welsh accent "bur ger king".


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

moody said:


> It's an aria from a Wagner opera.


not just a leitmotif?


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

jani said:


> In Finnish the officially longest word has 46 letters
> 
> Järjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän


what's it mean? google translate crashed on me when I fed it :lol:


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

deggial said:


> what's it mean? google translate crashed on me when I fed it :lol:


"I do not wish to purchase the extended warranty, thank you."


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

deggial said:


> what's it mean? google translate crashed on me when I fed it :lol:


Well i don'teven know what it means on Finnish.


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## Guest (Jun 5, 2013)

jani said:


> Well i don'teven know what it means on Finnish.


Go on, have a guess !


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

In some languages, the spelling convention is to create long tapeworm words, whereas in English, it is more usual to chop them up. Hence, the term tapeworm words instead of tapewormwords. In Afrikaans (which is my own mother tongue) the convention is also to string words together. I don't know what, if anything, is officially recognized as the longest word in Afrikaans, but it is an old game here to come with absurdly long terms that are meaningful and conform (well, more or less) to spelling conventions but exceedingly unlikely to ever actually be used. 

Laerskoolpotjiekoskompetisiebeoordeelaerstentskoonmaakdiensrekeningbetaalstaatleggerkabinet would one such construction. Never mind what it means, and don't hold your breath waiting to ever see it actually used in all seriousness. 

What makes the German construction unusual is that the bureaucrats actually used it! 

Edit: Hehehe, I see the board's software has automatically chopped up my construction into two...


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

What is it about ship captains and aircraft engineers?

I gather the longest known Finnish word is to do with a trainee aircraft officer.

Both Finnish and Hungarian (Fiino Ugric group) allow for compound nouns so could in theory go on forever.

Järjestelmä - System. So the whole thing has to do with being unsystematic.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Rindfleisch is salt beef.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Some years ago, the longest English word was said to be antidisestablishmentarianism. But some claimed the superuncontradistinguishabilitiveness was also a word... Nowadays pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is probably the main contender for the longest "real" non-technical word.

Non-technical is important because, for instance, the chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, going by the rules for protein naming has 189,819 letters.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

KenOC said:


> Nowadays pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is probably the main contender for the longest "real" non-technical word.


For a given value of "non-technical". It's the scientific name of a disease.



KenOC said:


> Non-technical is important because, for instance, the chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, going by the rules for protein naming has 189,819 letters.


And many hyphens, so, YMMV as to whether that counts as a word.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

ahammel said:


> And many hyphens, so, YMMV as to whether that counts as a word.


The abbreviated version of titin's chemical name given in Wiki is "methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl...isoleucine," which at least to that point has no hyphens.

The entry on titin says, "As the largest known protein, titin also has the longest IUPAC name. The full chemical name...contains 189,819 letters and is sometimes stated to be the longest word in the English language, or any language. It can take over three hours to pronounce. However, lexicographers regard generic names of chemical compounds as verbal formulae rather than English words."

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is the longest word in a major dictionary.

BTW, Wiki seems to think that "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is a word, entering the language from an unusual source.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

KenOC said:


> BTW, Wiki seems to think that "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is a word, entering the language from an unusual source.


Did you check the edit list to find the source?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

It is stunning that any abstract thought can come from a language which so literally strings things together: I suppose the flip side is that sometimes that exact trait leads to a synergy of thought, bringing new thought.

But so literal, so pragmatic, as this word, and I tend to think of a parochial mentality of block-headed thinkers so literal about language they would not even get a joke


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## TresPicos (Mar 21, 2009)

Swedish is another language where words can go on forever. I recently came across the following word: 

"Nordöstersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranläggningsmaterialunderhållsuppföljningssystemdiskussionsinläggsförberedelsearbeten"

I don't know why the forum software cannot handle 130 letter words and instead chops them up like that. 

Anyway, it translates into something like: 

"Work to prepare arguments for discussions about systems for follow-up of maintenance of material for aerial reconnaissance simulators for the coastal artillery in the northern Baltic Sea."


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

moody said:


> Rindfleisch is salt beef.


Half right. It just means beef.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

PetrB said:


> But so literal, so pragmatic, as this word, and I tend to think of a parochial mentality of block-headed thinkers so literal about language they would not even get a joke


Maybe the joke's on us?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Art Rock said:


> Half right. It just means beef.


Fine---what's the rest of it mean?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> Fine---what's the rest of it mean?


Lets split the word:

Rindfleisch etikettierungs überwachungs aufgaben übertragungs gesetz

Beef labeling supervision duties Transfer Act (or Law)

to get salty beef, You have to order Pökelrindfleisch!

/ptr


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

jani said:


> In Finnish the officially longest word has 46 letters
> 
> Järjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän


But you forgot Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas! No space in the word (somehow one is coming up) and it's 61 letters. It means: Airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> But you forgot Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas! No space in the word (somehow one is coming up) and it's 61 letters. It means: Airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student.


Not many people know that !


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