Talk:Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
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[edit] UMWA
would the UMWA's use of the word at http://www.umwa.org/blacklung/blacklung.shtml be sufficient citation?
- One citation is not enough, otherwise many of James Joyce's coinages would be words. Canon 01:54, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Here's a second citation, and it's even from a medical source: http://www.pathology.med.ohio-state.edu/pews/glossary/DisplayGlossaryImage.aspx?Keyword=PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS
- I agree that this evidence starts to add up to a case for the word. At this point I'd refer it to the dictionary editors who have dropped the word from their latest editions for reappraisal. Perhaps the word has entered the language as a synonym for "black lung disease," which is not the original meaning, by the way. If so, the route it took is rather twisted, starting as a hoax, passing through the dictionaries, and ending up in the medical literature. Many words get into English in odd ways, so oddness of etymology is not a conclusive criterion for exclusion. The word has been dropped from dictionaries since the 1970s; let's see if it shows up again in the future. Canon 04:40, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
According to http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis , it's still in the 2002 edition of the merriam webster medical dictionary, and definied as "a pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust," which is decently close to it's original meaning. Some indication in the article might be appropriate.
According to http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980916 , it's also still in the random house dictionary of the english language, albeit marked as a fictitious word.
As I've dug up two innocuous non-dictionary uses of this word, I am editing the page to reflect.
[edit] TDOE
It is the longest word ever to appear in 'the English Dictionary'.
Is that a real book? or just bad grammar? If it exists, it should have a link. jazzle 10:49, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Critics
Critics have complained that this word is a technical term (specifically, a medical term), and hence not worthy of consideration as the "longest word in general usage".
critics? of what?! 03:03, May 30, 2004 User:Resister (attrib by Ben Brockert)
- of the suggestion that it's the longest word. jazzle 10:49, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Divides
"Also, it naturally divides into two words, "pneumonoultramicroscopic" and "silicovolcanoconiosis", because "-ic" is a common suffix that forms adjectives, not an infix that joins combining forms into one word."
It sounds good, but doesn't work. The fact that microscopic is included doesn't mean you can split it into two words, because then the words make no sense. pneumono goes with osis, otherwise you get lungs very extremely small rather than lungs full of very extremely small volcanic silica dust, the disease. --Ben Brockert 03:35, Nov 18, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] But it is totally valid
If the word was suggested to at some point be used by the medical profession and, eventually, was adopted by said profession as a word which describes a condition then that only makes the proposal of the word prophetic and not a hoax.
Therefore, while the etymology of the word did not stem from the medical community it was none the less adopted by the medical community and therefore is a completely acceptable word.
Thus I declare the assumption that this word is a hoax to be fallacious.
- Valid argument based on incorrect assumptions. Pneumoconiosis is the word used by medical journals and dictionaries. Will Spiller 203.59.123.73 07:07, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Hoax
The above statement by an anonymous editor that the word has been adopted by the medical community requires some evidence to be believed. Unless some such evidence is forthcoming, the statement in the main article that "some people" disagree that the word is a hoax should be removed as it violates Wikipedia standards for accuracy. Canon 01:57, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
- Since no one has come forward with evidence of medical usage, I will remove the statement from the main article. Canon 22:33, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] National standards?
I've removed the claim that the word is used by "brainy children" which allows it to meet "national standards," since the first of these terms is pejorative and no source is provided for the second claim. Also, in order to establish that this is a word, an "innocent" citation must be found, which is a citation in which it is used in a medical context independent of its wordplay characteristics. Canon 20:43, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Would it be invented anyway
Humans seem to have a need for this kind of stuff. If pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis wasn't created in the early 20th century then the need for these superlative indications would probably make certain people and enthusiasts to invent some "longest word in the English language". Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis fits the bill perfectly. Most people who realise it's length don't even know it's meaning!
[edit] Regardless
Regardless if it was a hoax or not, the word is used and appears in several dictionaries. In short, its a valid word. It may have been a hoax or it may not have been, but a new word was "born" either way.
