WORD THINGS What do you think the two words: “kayak” and “racecar” have in common?
The differences are plain enough. One is a water craft and the other a motorized vehicle designed for running in speed contests. They have different purposes. In what way are they alike? We have been told they are the only words in the English language which can be spelled correctly starting at either end. I rather doubt that statement. Our English language is far to fluid, flexible, fattening always on bits of linguistic nourishment from other tongues to allow oddities to exist very long. We absorb technical and “inside” terms: “Abba” - a certain pop-music groups, for example.
Another one which has probably been negated by this time is the one which says that the word “typewriter” is the longest word in the language which can be made using the letters of one only of keys on the standard the query keyboard. Maybe you can think of one that will outstretch “typewriter.”
The longest word in our expansive language is said to be one which has one thousand nine-hundred and nine letters. I don't know who has ever actually spelled it, how often it may have been used but it is reported to have been subjected to actual use. It's a mysterious term which might someday be used to describe a distinct portion of DNA, but don't plan to just sit around just sit around waiting for someone else to do something about it. Get busy.
People who make a living working with words says that the shortest sentence we can say is: “I am.” The jury seems to be way, far out on this one.
Much depends on what a person calls a sentence, I suppose or what dialect as persons favors. I have heard the words “No!” and “Yes!” used as complete literary works each in itself! Slanguage makes them “Uh-un” and “Yup!”; body language makes them a nod or a head-shake, a finger-circle tossed into the air or a coy wink of one eye.
Geography provides some interesting spelling problems. The big one which just about everyone on planet Earth. All of the continents start and end with identical letters.
I had another word I wanted to mention, but I can't seem to remember what it was. That means I am a person who suffers from a strange illness called “lethologica.”
Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-26-06 [c-415wds]
