• Question: what is the longest word in the dictionary

    Asked by rafakub to Anna, Jonathan, Samantha, Sam on 29 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Samantha Weaver

      Samantha Weaver answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      I had this question in a pub quiz once and it was ‘Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’.

    • Photo: Jonathan Kay

      Jonathan Kay answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Is it a joke and the answer is “dictionary” because it’s longer than “the”?

      Or is it “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”? Medicine, and especially pathology, likes to make words out of Greek and Latin. That worked historically, but nowadays it can be a barrier to patients understanding what doctors are talking about.

    • Photo: Angharad Davies

      Angharad Davies answered on 30 Jun 2012:

      I live in Wales and there is a town here called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantyssiliogogogoch! And yes I do know how to pronounce it – everyone calls it Llanfair PG though!

    • Photo: Sam Chilka

      Sam Chilka answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” is actually a disease of the lungs caused by breathing in very fine silica dust. In medical use it is more commonly called “silicosis”. 🙂

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