Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Spotlight
Thomas Jefferson did it and should not be belittled, as did George Bush, who cannot be misunderestimated. Some say Shakespeare was the master, but Lewis Carroll would be the first to chortle at that. It can be done cleverly (like Stephen Colbert with truthiness) or by accident (cf dord) — but what's clear is that neologisms have been adding up. According to the Global Language Monitor: "At the current pace of a new English-language word created about every 98 minutes, English will cross the Million Word Mark on June 10th, 2009, at 10:22 a.m. (Stratford-on Avon Time)." That joyful milestone cannot be reached without the ordinary language enthusiast pitching in. So go ahead, lexicovate! Neologize! Make the world wordful!

Quote
"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."
"Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield."
"I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word."
— The Simpsons, "Lisa the Iconoclast"

Question of the Day
What is the longest word in the English language?
It is not, as many people believe: 'antidisestablishmentarianism', although this was the longest English-language word to be formed not solely for its length.

The longest word ever published in a major English dictionary is:

'Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilico volcanoconiosis' (45 letters, no space)

(Sometimes spelled as -koniosis)

However, that is just from dictionaries, and there are longer words like place names such as the hill in New Zealand (also the longest known word from an English-speaking country) :

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateatur ipukakapikimaungahoronukupokai whenuakitanatahul (85 letters, no space)

Then of course comes technical chemical names for things. Like the name for the 'coat protein, tobacco mosaic virus, dahlemense strain' which has 1,185 letters. If chemical names and place names were included, the longest word in the English language is actually one that isn't printed in any dictionary. It is the full chemical name for the moon Titan, and has 189,819 letters in it. Such coined words would theoretically have no upper limit, and no use at all in the written or spoken language.

Word of the day
junco

Any of various small North American birds of the genus Junco, having predominantly gray plumage, a gray or black head, and white outer tail feathers.

(© Houghton Mifflin Company)

Today's History

Affirmed

• Bridget Bishop: the Salem, Massachusetts, tavern owner became the first person to be executed in the Salem witch trials (1692)
• University Boat Race: Oxford bested Cambridge in the first of what is now an annual rowing race (1829)
• Alcoholics Anonymous: was founded by Dr. Bob Smith and Bill W., on the date of Smith's last drink (1935)
• Affirmed: the thoroughbred became the eleventh and most recent winner of the Triple Crown (1978)

Today's Birthdays

Prince Philip

• Gustave Courbet (1819-1877): leading Realist painter; artist André Derain (1880-1954) shared this birth date
• Prince Philip (88): Duke of Edinburgh and royal consort to Queen Elizabeth II
• Maurice Sendak (81): author and illustrator of children's books, Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen; novelist Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was also born on this date
• Kate Flannery (45): Meredith Palmer on The Office; also, actors Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952), Judy Garland (1922-1969), Lionel Jeffries (83), Jürgen Prochnow (68), Gina Gershon (47), Elizabeth Hurley (44), Shane West (31) and Leelee Sobieski (27)
• Tara Lipinski (27): Olympic gold medal-winner in figure skating