From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Sat Dec 18 1999 - 01:35:30 MST
The definition in the dictionary that I previously quoted you as from is:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis: an obscure term ostensibly
referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust, sometimes cited as one of
the longest words in the English language. (see pneumono-ultramicroscopic,
silica, volcano, coniology,-osis)
Okay, that's all I care to comment about this Bob.
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
>Robert Owen wrote:
>
>> Gina Miller wrote:
>>
>> > The Random House Dictionary of the English Language second edition
>> > unabridged 1987 page 1491.
>> > Your CHALLENGE is met.
>> > Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
>>
>
>> As recompense, I will supply you with arguably the shortest word in the
English
>> Language: "Aa", meaning a sort of cindery lava. I have Helga Williams to
thank
>> for this one, who also confirms that "antidisestablishmentarianism" with
its
>> measly 28 letters is no longer Numero Uno, but according to her our new
word
>> with 45 letters is "the new contender".
>>
>> Naturally, the word "contender" is not given here as a dodge, but
nevertheless
>> we must continuue our research as a precaution.
>
>Dear Gina & Zeb,
>
>I have continued my research, and without wishing to detract in any way
from
>your remarkable lexicographical tour de force, I have encountered a
difficulty.
>
>Going to the American Medical Association Web Site and using their Search
>Engine, after entering our word I was informed:
>
> "Our basic search for pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
> matched 0 out of 24804 documents."
>
>When I first saw your word, I thought it probably referred to "Coal
Workers'
>Pneumoconiosis (CWP) otherwise known as "Black Lung Disease" or "Anthra-
>cosis". My next search was in "The Merck Manual" where it indicates that
>CWP can in about 2% of the cases develop into "Progressive Massive
Fibrosis"
>or (PMF). But there is no mention whatever in the comprehensive index to
>"pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis". I was even further
distressed
>to find at http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/facstaff that the word is described as
>"absurd" in the Guinness book of World Records.
>
>Would you care to comment on these findings,
>
>Bob
>
>
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