More Than Words...

WITH ONLY 26 letters in the English alphabet, the combination to form words can get interesting. Let's check it out...

• "Aegilops" is the longest word with letters in alphabetical order. It means goat grass.

• The word "queuing" has the longest run of vowels.

• "Swims" is the longest word with 180-degrees symmetry.

• "Stressed & Desserts" are the longest words that can be reversed.

• "Esophagographers" is the longest word in which all letters appear twice. It refers to people experienced in radio-graphic visualisation of oesophagus using a swallowed radiopaque contrast medium.

• "Strengths" is the longest word that has only one vowel.

• The longest word that can be typed with the left hand is "stewardesses".

• The longest word without a repeating letter is "dermatoglyphics". This word refers to the study of skin markings and patterns on fingers, hands and feet.

• The word "latchstring" has the longest run of consonants. It means a cord attached to a latch and often passed through a hole in the door to allow lifting of the latch from the outside.

• The longest one-syllable word is "screeched".

• "Honorificabilitudinitatibus" - the longest word to alternate consonants and vowels. It is the ablative plural of the medieval Latin word honorificabilitudinitas, which can be translated as "the state of being able to achieve honours". It is also the longest word coined by Shakespeare.

- Adapted from RD/feb/09' -