October 11, 2011
I receive many interesting questions from students who press the "Ask Seymour Simon" button, but this one takes the cake!
George wrote this week to ask how to pronounce the word "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." This is supposedly the longest word in the English language, meaning "black lung disease," an illness that some coal miners develop from inhaling dust.
I say "supposedly," because it is actually a made up word. Most doctors, when diagnosing Black Lung Disease, would simply call it Silicosis. The mother of all English words, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, was invented in 1935 by Everett M. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers’ League. The puzzlers made history by officially recognizing the "longest word," and it has eventually made its way into all the standard dictionaries.
So, getting back to George’s question, how do you pronounce it?
NEW-moe-no-ultra-microscopic-SIH-la-coe-volcano-cone-ee-OH-sis
If that’s still a bit hard to get your tongue around, you can hear it pronounced by clicking on this link to the Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
