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Sunday, July 10, 2005
Here's what the Encyclopedia Galactica has to say about alcohol. It says that alcohol is a colorless volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars and also notes its intoxicating effect on certain carbon-based life forms. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. It says that the effect of drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick. The Guide also tells you on which planets the best Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters are mixed, how much you can expect to pay for one and what voluntary organizations exist to help you rehabilitate afterward. The Guide even tells you how you can mix one yourself. Take the juice from one bottle of the Ol' Janx Spirit, it says. Pour into it one measure of water from the seas of Santraginus V—Oh, that Santraginean seawater, it says. Oh, those Santraginean fish! Allow three cubes of Arcturan Mega-gin to melt into the mixture (it must be properly iced or the benzine is lost). Allow four liters of Fallian marsh gas to bubble through it, in memory of all those happy hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia. Over the back of a silver spoon float a measure of Qualactin Hypermint extract, redolent of all the heady odors of the dark Qualactin Zones, subtle, sweet and mystic. Drop in the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger. Watch it dissolve, spreading the fires of the Algolian Suns deep into the heart of the drink. Sprinkle Zamphuor. Add an olive. Drink ... but ... very carefully ... The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy sells rather better than the Encyclopedia Galactica. - still searching for an answer @ 2:55 PM :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Thursday, July 07, 2005
Q. Why is the word abbreviate so long? A. There's no reason why words should necessarily reflect in some way the concept they express. Unless, of course, like whistle or splash, a word is an onomatopoeia - something onomatopoeia is not in itself. If abbreviation is too long for you, the 'official' abbreviation for abbreviation and abbreviate is abbr. Q. What are the longest words in the English language? A. English is not a language rich in very long words, unlike its close cousin German. In German it is common to make up compound words, which in English would be expressed by a number of individual words. An example of this is the snappy name of the Danube Steamship Company: Donaudampfschifahrtsgesellschaftkapitaen. Try coming up with an advertising jingle for that one. Most long words in English are chemical names or names of diseases. The longest of these are: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters), a lung disease caused by breathing in particles Tetramethyldiaminobenzhydrylphosphinous Acid (39 letters) Hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomies (37 letters), a surgical creation of a connection between the gall bladder and a hepatic duct and between the intestine and the gall bladder Formaldehydetetramethylamidofluorimum (37 letters)Dimethylamidophenyldimethylpyrazolone (37 Letters) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 Letters), from the Disney film Mary Poppins. It's an invented word, but appears in the Oxford English Dictionary Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters), an estimation of something as worthless. This is the longest word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and it dates back to 1741. It was famously used by Sir Walter Scott in his Journal - 'They must be taken with an air of contempt, a floccinaucinihilipilification of all that can gratify the outward man' - and more recently by the US senator Jesse Helms in a debate on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: 'I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the CTBT.'The longest word used by Shakespeare was honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters), appearing in Love's Labour's Lost. Everyday long words are: incomprehensibilities (21 letters), indistinguishable, undistinguishable (both 17 letters) and incomprehensible (16 letters) Q. And the longest word ever, in any language? A. The prize for this goes to the term for the chemical formula C(1289)H(2051)N(343)O(375)S(8), which comes in at a cool 1,913 letters: Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenyl-alanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysyglutamyl-gycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonyl-leucylglycylaspartylprolylglycyllisoleucylglutamylglutaminyl-serylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucyl-glutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucyl-glycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolylleucyl-alanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginyl-alanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanyl-glycylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanyl-glutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyl-lysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucyl-leucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenylalanyl-asparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyl-tyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalyl-aspartylsrylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalyl-glutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminyl-alanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanyl-prolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartyl-alanylaspartylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminyl-isoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyl-tyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycyl-alanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylleucyllysyl-glutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminyl-glycylphenylalanylglysylisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminyl-valyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanyl-glycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoleucyl-isoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamyl-prolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenyl-alanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginy-lserine - still searching for an answer @ 9:04 AM :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
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