The Oxford English Dictionary Web site says the longest word listed in Oxford dictionaries is this one: “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.” This forty-five letter word is the name of a kind of lung disease. The dictionary’s Web site says that the word is like other examples of the longest words. They are not really spoken in everyday life.

The Oxford English Dictionary Web site also lists other interesting facts about words. For example, what are the longest English words containing no letter more than once? They are two fifteen-letter words?“uncopyrightable” and “dermatoglyphics.” There are several one-syllable English words that have nine letters. Examples include “screeched”, “scratched”, “scrounged,” “scrunched” and “stretched.”

Another source of long English words is the Guinness Book of Records. It says the longest real word in the English language is “floccinaucinihilipilification.” It is also the longest non-technical word listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. It has twenty-nine letters. It means the act of estimating something as worthless. The Guinness Book of Records says it was first used in seventeen forty-one. In recent times, United States Senator Jesse Helms used the word. So did former President Bill Clinton’s press secretary.

The best known long English word is probably “antidisestablishmentarianism.” This is the word for a nineteenth century movement in Britain that opposed the separation of church and government. The word is twenty-eight letters long.

There is a well known song about another long English word. It is from the nineteen sixty-four Walt Disney movie “Mary Poppins.” It has thirty-four letters. It is “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The song was written by Robert Sherman. He said he and his brother created the word when they were boys at summer camp. The song describes using the word as a way to talk oneself out of difficult situations, and even as a way to change one's life.