What are some interesting word oddities in English: unusual letter combinations, typing curiosities, long...

[ Editor: Jeff Miller's Web page "A Collection of Word Oddities", copied
in full as text.  Words set in bold on the page are in capitals here as
they were there; spaces lost at the line breaks of the HTML source are
restored.  See also references/web.sites for Miller's announcement of
the page. ]

A Collection of Word Oddities

There are collections similar to this one on the Internet; here are
some trivia I find most interesting.  Comments and suggestions for this
page are welcome.

(I took some information from couple of posts in alt.usage.english and
I apologize for not providing attribution, but I did not keep the name
of the poster.)

Thanks to neurotico@aol.com, Kaello@aol.com, and Dave Tuller, who
provided help with this page.

Last updated: Dec. 21, 1996

Jeff Miller
JeffM@sanctum.com

AA is a type of lava.  Besides being the second word listed in
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, it is a word consisting
entirely of vowels.  Some other such words are IAO, OII, EUOUAE, OO, I,
O and if you allow Y: AYE, AYU, EYE, IYO, YAO, YEA, YEE, YEO, YOE, YOI,
YOU, YOY, EYEY, YAYA.

ABSTEMIOUS is an example of a word with the five main vowels A, E, I,
O, and U in alphabetical order.  (ABSTEMIOUSLY, for example, has the
six vowels in order.)  The list of words with this property which
appear in Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, is as
follows: ABIETINEOUS, ABSTEMIOUS, ABSTEMIOUSLY, ABSTEMIOUSNESS,
ABSTENTIOUS, ACETABULIFEROUS, ACETARIOUS, ACHEILOUS, ACHEIROUS,
ACLEISTOUS, ACTINOPTERYGIOUS, ADENOCARCINOMATOUS, ADVECTITIOUS,
ADVENTITIOUS, ADVENTITIOUSLY, ADVENTITIOUSNESS, ADVERSARIOUS,
ADVERSIFOLIOUS, AECIOTELIUM, AEGITHOGNATHOUS, AERIFEROUS, AEROBIOUS,
AEROPERITONEUM, AEROPHILOUS, AERUGINOUS, AFFECTIOUS, ALTERNIPETALOUS,
ALTERNISEPALOUS, AMBERIFEROUS, AMENTIFEROUS, AMETOECIOUS,
AMPELIDACEOUS, AMPELIDEOUS, ANAEROBIOUS, ANDRODIOECIOUS,
ANDROMONOECIOUS, ANEMOPHILOUS, ANEPIGRAPHOUS, ANNELIDOUS,
ANTENNIFEROUS, ANTHERIFEROUS, ANTHRACENIFEROUS, ANTIRELIGIOUS,
APLOPERISTOMATOUS, APPENDICIOUS, APPENDITIOUS, APPETITIOUS,
AQUEOIGNEOUS, ARCHICLEISTOGAMOUS, ARENARIOUS, ARENICOLOUS,
ARGENTIFEROUS, ARGILLOFERRUGINOUS, ARGUMENTATIOUS, ARIETINOUS,
ARMENIACEOUS, ARREPTITIOUS, ARSENIFEROUS, ARSENIOUS, ARTERIOPALMUS,
ARTERIOUS, ARTERIOVENOUS, ASCLEPIADACEOUS, ASCLEPIADEOUS,
ASPERIFOLIOUS, ASSENTATIOUS, ATHERICEROUS, AUTECIOUS, AUTECIOUSLY,
AUTECIOUSNESS, AUTOECIOUS, AUTOECIOUSLY, AUTOECIOUSNESS,
BACTERIACEOUS, BACTERIOAGGLUTININ, BACTERIOFLUORESCIN,
BACTERIOGENOUS, BACTERIOPHAGOUS, BACTERIOPURPURIN,
BACTERIOTHERAPEUTIC, BACTERIOUS, CAESALPINIACEOUS, CAESIOUS,
CALCAREOARGILLACEOUS, CALCAREOBITUMINOUS, CALCAREOSILICEOUS,
CAVERNICOLOUS, CERATOPTERIDACEOUS, CHAETIFEROUS, CHAMAESIPHONACEOUS,
CHLAMYDOBACTERIACEOUS, DESMARESTIACEOUS, DIAPENSIACEOUS,
EFLAGELLIFEROUS, FACETIOUS, FACETIOUSLY, FACETIOUSNESS,
FILAMENTIFEROUS, FLAGELLARIACEOUS, FLAGELLIFEROUS, FRACEDINOUS,
FRAGMENTITIOUS, FRANKENIACEOUS, GARNETIFEROUS, HAMAMELIDACEOUS,
HAPLOPERISTOMOUS, HEXAPETALOIDEOUS, HYPOCRATERIMORPHOUS,
KRAMERIACEOUS, LABOULBENIACEOUS, LAEMODIPODOUS, LAMELLICORNOUS,
LAMELLIFEROUS, LAPEIROUSIA, LATERIFLOROUS, LATERIFOLIOUS, LATERITIOUS,
MACROLEPIDOPTEROUS, MAGNETIFEROUS, MAJESTIOUS, MALACOPTERYGIOUS,
MALESHERBIACEOUS, MALLEIFEROUS, METARSENIOUS, MYXOBACTERIACEOUS,
NONABSTEMIOUS, NONADVENTITIOUS, NONARGENTIFEROUS, NONFACETIOUS,
OVERABSTEMIOUS, OVERABSTEMIOUSNESS, PALAEODICTYOPTEROUS,
PANCREATICODUODENAL, PANCREATICODUODENOSTOMY, PARALLELINERVOUS,
PARALLEPIPEDOUS, PARMELIACEOUS, PAROECIOUS, PAROECIOUSLY,
PAROECIOUSNESS, PLACENTIFEROUS, PLACENTIGEROUS, POLYGAMODIOECIOUS,
PSEUDOSACRILEGIOUS, PYROARSENIOUS, QUADRAGENARIOUS, QUADRIGEMINOUS,
QUADRIGENARIOUS, RACEMIFEROUS, RAFFLESIACEOUS, RAMENTIFEROUS,
SACRILEGIOUS, SACRILEGIOUSLY, SACRILEGIOUSNESS, SANGUINEOBILIOUS,
SAPROLEGNIACEOUS, SAPROLEGNIOUS, SARMENTIFEROUS, SARRACENIACEOUS,
SATELLITIOUS, SPHACELARIACEOUS, SPHAERIACEOUS, SQUAMELLIFEROUS,
STAPEDIOVESTIBULAR, SULPHARSENIOUS, SULPHOARSENIOUS, SUPRACENSORIOUS,
TAENIOSOMOUS, THIOARSENIOUS, TRAJECTITIOUS, ULTRACEREMONIOUS,
ULTRACONSCIENTIOUS, ULTRAEXPEDITIOUS, ULTRAINGENIOUS, ULTRARELIGIOUS,
UNFACETIOUS, UNSACRILEGIOUS, VALERIANACEOUS, VALLISNERIACEOUS,
VAUCHERIACEOUS.

AFTERCATARACTS and TESSERADECADES are the longest words which can be
typed exclusively with the fingers of the left hand.  The first word
appears in a Merriam-Webster medical dictionary; the second is in
Webster's Second New International Dictionary.

ANHUNGRY is one possible answer to the oft-heard question, "What's the
other word besides "angry" and "hungry" that ends in "gry"?  For some
reason, this question is the most frequently asked question of the
editors of Merriam-Webster, and the question is comes up frequently in
alt.usage.english (to the annoyance of regular readers of the
newsgroup!).  Actually, there are no other words in common use ending
in -gry, but quite a few obsolete or extremely obscure words can be
found in various unabridged dictionaries.  Among them: ANHUNGRY, used
by Shakespeare and AGGRY BEAD, both of which appear in Webster's Third
New International Dictionary.

AMBIDEXTROUSLY is an example of a long word with no letter appearing
more than once.  Others are: DERMATOGLYPHICS, UNCOPYRIGHTABLE.

ASPHODEL is one of the words in Wilfred Funk's list of the most
beautiful words in English.  (It appears the order of the words is not
significant.)  The complete list: ASPHODEL, FAWN, DAWN, CHALICE,
ANEMONE, TRANQUIL, HUSH, GOLDEN, HALCYON, CAMELLIA, BOBOLINK, THRUSH,
CHIMES, MURMURING, LULLABY, LUMINOUS, DAMASK, CERULEAN, MELODY,
MARIGOLD, JONQUIL, ORIOLE, TENDRIL, MYRRH, MIGNONETTE, GOSSAMER,
ALYSSEUM, MIST, OLEANDER, AMARYLLIS, ROSEMARY.

AVIJJA has the very rare double J.  Other such words: ZULHIJJAH, HAJJ,
HAJJI.

BARBECUE is my candidate for the most commonly misspelled word, with
honorable mention to UKULELE and MINUSCULE, although some dictionaries
also give "UKELELE" and "MINISCULE."  ITS and IT'S are mixed up very
frequently of course, but this may not be actually a spelling error.

BEIJING has three dotted letters in a row (in lower case).  Some other
such common words are FIJI and HIJINKS.  Webster's Second New
International Dictionary has these longer examples: REMIJIA, BOGIJIAB,
PIRIJIRI, KHARIJITE.

BOYCOTT is a good example of a word named for people (in this case
Charles C. Boycott).  Some others: BURKE for William Burke, BOWDLERIZE
for Thomas Bowdler, GALVANIZE for Luigi Galvani, GERRYMANDER for
Elbridge Gerry, HECTOR from Homer's Iliad [Editor: "Illiad" in the
original], MACADAMIZE for John Macadam, MESMERIZE for Friedrich Anton
Mesmer, PASTEURIZE for Louis Pasteur, SANDWICH for John Montagu, the
Fourth Earl of Sandwich, VULCANIZE for the Roman god of fire and
metalworking.  (Gerry, by the way, pronounced the "g" as in "gray"
rather than as in "giant."

CATERCORNER has eight spellings in Webster's Third New International
Dictionary: catercorner cater-cornered catacorner cata-cornered
catty-corner catty-cornered kitty-corner kitty-cornered.  Another
dictionary has cater-corner.

CHOCOHOLIC is a mix of Nahuatl, Arabic and Latin.  It has its origins
in three different language phyla.

CWM has the rare w as a vowel.  Another such word is CRWTH.

DEEDED can be typed using one finger.  Some other such words: HUMHUM
HUMMUM MUHUHU MUUMUU.

DISMANTLEMENT is typed by alternating the use of both hands.  Another
such word is LEUCOCYTOZOANS.

DORD, defined as "density," was entered into Webster's Second New
International Dictionary by mistake.  Somebody had written "d or D" as
the two abbreviations for density, and somebody else thought he saw the
word "dord."  The word was removed from later printings of this
dictionary.

DREAMT seems to be the only word in English ending in "mt" (except for
the somewhat rare ADREAMT.

ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY appears to be the longest closed compound
(i.e., single word without spaces or hyphens) that is included in M-W's
Collegiate Dictionary, according to Kaello@aol.com.

ESCALATOR is one of many words that were originally trademarks but have
become ordinary words found in dictionaries.  Some other words which
were originally trademarks are ESCALATOR, CUBE STEAK, CORNFLAKES,
KEROSENE, YO-YO, MIMEOGRAPH, LANOLIN, NYLON, TRAMPOLINE, THERMOS,
CELLOPHANE.

EXXON and some other proper names (such as FOXX have a double X, but no
words found in the dictionary have a double X.  The double X is the
only double letter combination not found in English.  According to an
article in Time magazine in 1970, the name Exxon was chosen partly
because it meant nothing in any language and in fact, according to the
article, researchers concluded that a double X appears in no language.

FLAGFALLS is supposed to be the longest word which can be typed using
only the middle row of letters on the keyboard, although someone has
come up with SHAKALSHAS.

FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION is the longest word in the Oxford English
Dictionary.  It is defined as "an estimation of something as
worthless."  The word was used by Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia on
the Senate floor a few years ago.  It also appeared on March 14, 1996,
in "Zippy," a comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate:

"Do you think I may be too quick to find fault with things and people,
Zippy?" // "Yeh." //  "Th' 'floccinaucinihilipilification' process."
// "Th' what?" // "Floccinaucinihilipilification!!  It means 'the
estimation of something as valueless'!" // "You've been randomly
reading th' dictionary, haven't you?" // "Yes.  That and my natural
tendency toward antifloccinaucinihilipilification!!"

GLOWWORM may be the best-known word with the relatively rare double w.
Some others: ARROWWEED, BOWWOMAN, BOWWOOD, BOWWOW, COWWEED, COWWHEAT,
DEWWORM, GLOWWORM, LOWWOOD, MALLOWWORT, MEADOWWORT, PILLOWWORK,
PLOWWISE, PLOWWOMAN, PLOWWRIGHT, POWWOW, POWWOWER, POWWOWISM,
RAINBOWWEED, SAWWAY, SAWWORKER, SAWWORT, SCREWWISE, SHAWWAL, SHOWWORM,
SHOWWORTHY, SKEWWHIFF, SKEWWISE, SLOWWORM, SPARROWWORT, SQUAWWEED,
STRAWWALKER, STRAWWORM, SWALLOWWORT, TALLOWWEED, THROWWORT,
VIEWWORTHY, WHITLOWWORT, WILLOWWARE, WILLOWWEED, WILLOWWORM,
WILLOWWORT, WINDOWWARD, WINDOWWARDS, WINDOWWISE, YAWWEED, YELLOWWARE,
YELLOWWEED, YELLOWWOOD, YELLOWWORT.

IRAQ is one of the very few words ending in Q (although as a proper
noun it may be missing from your dictionary).  Other words ending in Q
are: SHOQ, PONTACQ, NOASTALIQ.

JOHNNY-JUMP-UP is the longest word found in abridged dictionaries which
can be typed using exclusively the fingers of the right hand.  However,
in Webster's Second New International Dictionary are PHYLLOPHYLLIN,
MIMINYPIMINY, HYPOPHYLLIUM and other suggestions are HYPOLIMNION and
IKINNIKINNIK.

LATCHSTRING has 6 consonants in a row.  The Dutch word ANGSTSCHREEUW
has 8 consecutive consonants.

LIKE has uses involving eight parts of speech.

OCEANIA crams five syllables into only seven letters.

PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS, with 45 letters, is the
longest word in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, and in
fact the longest word in any English-language dictionary.  (Its plural
would have 47 letters.)  The status of this thing as a real word is
open to dispute.

PSI and SAI, a pair of homophones from Greek and Japanese,
respectively, both refer to pitchfork-shaped objects (one a letter, the
other a ninja weapon).

Q.T. (as in "on the q.t.") appears in the main part of Merriam Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, and not in the back where the
abbreviations are found.  Therefore, the editors must consider it a
word rather than an abbreviation.  This makes it one of the rare words
having no vowel.  Others include BRRRRR, ZZZZZZ, NTH, SSSHHHHH HMMMM,
PHT, TSKTSK.

QUEUEING has five vowels in a row.  Another word suggested for this
honor is MIAOUED (past tense of what a cat does), but this is an
unusual spelling of the word.

RAISE/RAZE are contronymic homophones.  Others are RECKLESS/WRECKLESS,
AURAL/ORAL, PETALLESS/PETALOUS.

RHYTHMS is the longest common word without an A, E, I, O, or U, but
these longer words appear in Webster's Second New International
Dictionary: SYMPHYSY, NYMPHLY, GYPSYRY, GYPSYFY.  (In these words, Y is
a vowel.)

SAUNA is the only word in the English language borrowed directly from
Finnish.

SET has the longest definition (or definitions) in Webster's Third New
International Dictionary, taking up more than one whole column.

SNARLEYYOW has the truly rare double Y combination.  Other such words
are GAYYOU, AYYUBID, CUBBYYEW, SAYYID.

SPENDTHRIFT may be the longest word spelled exactly as it is
pronounced.

STRENGTHS is the longest word with one vowel; STRENGTHLESSNESS and
DEFENSELESSNESS are the longest word with one vowel if allowed to
repeat.  INDIVISIBILITY has 6 I's.

SUBBOOKKEEPER is the only word with 4 sets of double letters in a row.
This word appears in the small type at the bottom of the page in
Webster's Second New International Dictionary, but the word did not
survive into the Third edition.

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS has made it into at least one
dictionary.  Many people think it is the longest word in English,
although it is not.

SYZYGY, when written in cursive, has five letters in a row which
descend below the line.

TARAMASALATA is a type of Greek salad.  It alternates so that every
other letter is A.

TATTARATTAT is the longest palindrome appearing in the Oxford English
Dictionary; KINNIKINNIK is the longest in Webster's Third New
International Dictionary.  The Finnish word SAIPPUAKAUPPIAS (a person
who sells soap) is supposed to be the longest palindrome in any
language.

THERBLIG is a word created by rearranging the letters of a person's
name; that is, it is an anagram for F. B. Gilbreth, an American
engineer.

TYPEWRITER is one of the longest words which can be typed using only
the top row of keys on the keyboard.  The following ten-letter words
all appear in Webster's Second New International Dictionary
PEPPERROOT, PEPPERWORT, PEWTERWORT, PIROUETTER, PREREQUIRE,
PRETORTURE, PROPRIETOR, REPERTOIRE, REPETITORY, TETTERWORT and these
words have also been suggested: PROPRIETORY, PROTEROTYPE, RUPTUREWORT,
PITUITOTROPE, UROPYOURETER, PERPETUITY.

VACUUM is the most common word with the fairly rare double U.  Some
others are CONTINUUM, DUUMVIR, MENSTRUUM, MUUMUU, RESIDUUM, TRIDUUM,
INTERMENSTRUUM, SEMICONTINUUM, SMECTYMNUUS, PRAECIPUUM, INDIVIDUUM,
DUUMVIRATE, ZUURVELDT, SADALSUUD, DUUMVIRAL, RESIDUUM, OBLIQUUS,
EQUULEUS, SQUUSH(Y), CARDUUS.

VERISIMILITUDE [Editor: "VERSIMILITUDE" in the original] is a long word
that has alternating vowels and consonants

WITHHOLD is among the words with a double H.  Some others: BATHHOUSE
BEACHHEAD FISHHOOK HIGHHANDED HITCHHIKE ROUGHHOUSE WASHHOUSE
SLEUTHHOUND.

ZAQQUM has the truly rare double Q.

ZYXOMMA has been suggested as the word yielding the highest score in
Scrabble, although the word is not in the Official Scrabble Players
Dictionary.  Other words which have high point value are QUIXOTIC,
SQUEEZE, POPQUIZ.

-- Jeff Miller <JeffM@sanctum.com>, December 1996