Boy, 9, is able to spell a word with 310 letters

[matcom]

<snip>

The teacher said she was surprised, to say the least, that Zweig was able to recite the entire 310 letters.

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Zweig is a student at Fernbrook Elementary School and last year, his spelling impressed his second grade teacher, Ruth Kalata. So this year, Kalata posed the challenge of the giant word.

“I told him he should come back to me when he had learned the word, thinking he never would,” Kalata said on Nov. 11. “But two weeks later he was back and spelled it in front of my class. It was really a joke to challenge him, but he thrives on challenges like that.”

Kalata said that last year, the youth learned to spell two, extremely long words, antidisestablishmentintarism and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

But the two words with 34 and 28 letters, respectively, were puny compared with the latest challenge.

Lengthy Definition

According to a book of facts, the 310-letter word was used by medieval scribes to refer to someone who practices divination or forecasting by means of phenomena, interpretation of acts, or other manifestations related to animate or inanimate objects and appearances such as various animal behaviors, dreams, palmistry, wands, ring suspension and a number of other methods.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13382220&BRD=1918&PAG=461&dept_id=506888&rfi=6

on edit: did a Google. This APPEARS to be the word:

Ornicopytheobibliopsychocrystarroscioaerogenethliometeoroaustrohieroanthropoichthyopyrosiderochpnomyoalectryoophiobotanopegohydrorhabdocrithoaleuroalphitohalomolybdoclerobeloaxinocoscinodactyliogeolithopessopsephocatoptrotephraoneirochyroonychodactyloarithstichooxogeloscogastrogyrocerobletonooenoscapulinaniac

[name not needed]

1. Boy, 9, has too much time on his hands

[Spinzonner]

3. Not to mention the scribes

[Ima]

17. ok

Who is the dummy here?


The teacher for suggesting it?



Or the student for doing it?

[Kire]

2. so, um, what's the word?

[Citizen Jane]

4. Shouldn't that be antidisestablishmentarianism

Just to be clear, the Newspaper had it spelled wrong, I am not picking at Matcom.

I just think it is kind of funny that in a story about spelling, the newspaper would misspell one of the key words.

[displacedtexan]

5. Reporter, Idiot, doesn't include the word

What the cheney is the cheneying word?

I've got to know!

This sucks.

[matcom]

7. um..... its in my post

i Googled it

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. Yep, that's 310 letters.

$ echo -n Ornicopytheobibliopsychocrystarroscioaerogenethliometeoroaustrohieroanthropoichthyopyrosiderochpnomyoalectryoophiobotanopegohydrorhabdocrithoaleuroalphitohalomolybdoclerobeloaxinocoscinodactyliogeolithopessopsephocatoptrotephraoneirochyroonychodactyloarithstichooxogeloscogastrogyrocerobletonooenoscapulinaniac | wc
      0       1     310
$

[Ima]

11. not in websters

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Seems like that would be easier to spell

than say. :shrug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. no word needs to be that long

-----------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[DrWeird]

10. Now use it in a sentence.

nt

[Ima]

13. Icouldn't

even find out what it means.

[matcom]

14. here -----

Tonight I am DAMNED HORNY so I think I'll Ornicopytheobibliopsychocrystarroscioaerogenethliometeoroaustrohieroanthropoichthyopyrosiderochpnomyoalectryoophiobotanopegohydrorhabdocrithoaleuroalphitohalomolybdoclerobeloaxinocoscinodactyliogeolithopessopsephocatoptrotephraoneirochyroonychodactyloarithstichoox ogeloscogastrogyrocerobletonooenoscapulinaniac!!!!!!!!!!

[Scooter24]

15. haha...it's meaning

``THE long word of 310 letters was used as a means of demonstrating: 1. The extent to which even the English language is capable of forming enormous word monsters, and, 2. The whole field of superstitious divinatory practices which are as old as humanity. The literal translation of the long word is "A deluded human who practices divination or forecasting by means of phenomena, interpretation of acts or other manifestations related to the following animate or inanimate objects and appearances: birds, oracles, Bible, ghosts, crystal gazing, shadows, air appearances, birth stars, meteors, winds, sacrificial appearances, entrails of humans and fishes, fire, red-hot irons, altar smoke, mice, barley, salt, lead, dice, arrows, hatchet balance, sieve, ring suspension, random dots, precious stones, pebbles, pebble heaps, mirrors, ash writing, dreams, palmistry, nail rays, finger rings, numbers, book passages, name letterings, laughing manners, ventriloquism, circle walking, wax, susceptibility to hidden springs, wine and shoulder blades. Various monastic author of the Middle Ages writing on the subject of human superstition have actually used such a long word with a slightly varying sequence of items.''

[Ima]

20. Scooter24

Thanks



Could the shorter form of the word be......





NUT

[Scooter24]

12. Maybe he should just go for it all..

and tackle this 1900-letter monster...

methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalan ylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylpheny lalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylyalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylproly lglycylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylt hreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartylalanylleucyl glutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolylle ucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginyl alanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylvalyl threonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionyl leucyalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreon ylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylas paraginylleucylvalylphenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspar tylglutamylphenylalanyltyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysyl valylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprol ylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutami nylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolylisol eucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylasparty laspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylserylty rosylglycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylargin ylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylala nylalanylleucylprolylleucylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysyl leucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylg lutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylg lutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylal anylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylis oleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutam ylprolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphen ylalanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylargin ylserine
- 1,913 (chem. in Mrs Byrne's Dict. See appendix 2)

[Heyo]

That looks like...

...some entire DNA molecule or something written out in longhand...

:shrug:

Heyo

[slutticus]

18. LOL

That's a protein.

You can just take an even longer protein, spell it out using the amino-acid sequence, and form an even longer word.

[Heyo]

19. If I am not mistaken....

....you can write out the atomic structure of a chunk of diamond as carbon-carbon-carbon-carbon-carbon-carbon... etc.

But that doesn't count 'cause it has hyphens I guess..

:hurts:

Heyo

[slutticus]

21. Yeah...and the structure is actually a lattice...

...with 4 carbons attached to every carbon. So I guess it would be a non-linear word, whatever that is.

[Heyo]

23. whoah!

a non linear word? easy there Hawking!

LOL.. just kiddin'.. you're right, it would be a non-linear word...

One that goes off in 3 dimentions!...whoah!

That's deep. :bounce:

Heyo

[slutticus]

16. Wasn't that word made up?

By Ripley's Believe it or Not?


EDIT: searching for link. I have nothing better to do.

[slutticus]

22. LOL. I guess all words are made up at some point in time.

Whatever