OT: is this real?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/a182765

[Kamog]

I don't know. I guess it could be real, but who would ever want to say it or write it?

[Fyron]

That is wrong. The longest word is the full extension of DNA, which is either around 40,000 letters or 400,000 letters, I forget.

[TerranC]

http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_word_in_English

[oleg]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
That is wrong. The longest word is the full extension of DNA, which is either around 40,000 letters or 400,000 letters, I forget.

What do you mean by that ? If you refer to the human genome, then that is around 10^10 bases.

[Fyron]

Check TerranC's link. I was way off on the number of letters.

[DavidG]

I think the Guiness people and whoever made the page Narf posted need to look up the definition of word. I don't think DNA or the word Narf posted qualify.

[Fyron]

What aspects of being a word do they not qualify for? They are properly constructed strings of letters that have a real, functional meaning.

[ December 24, 2003, 16:23: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Phoenix-D]

DNA might qualify as a word since almost no one uses deoxyribonucleic acid, the long form. But the actual DNA sequences doesn't; its a code, not a word.

[DavidG]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
What aspects of being a word do they not qualify for? They are properly constructed strings of letters that have a real, functional meaning.

"a word is a unit of speech or writing that symbolizes or communicates a meaning. "

I don't think these 'words' have ever been used in speech or writing to communicate a meaning. But hey I could be wrong. There might actually be someone in the world who could say one of those words and use it in speech. And heck maybe somone could listen to it and get the meaning of it.

[ December 24, 2003, 16:44: Message edited by: DavidG ]