[etni] [FWD: Re: long words]
- From: ask@xxxxxxxx
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 21:04:05 -0700
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: long words
From: Eitan Levy <moranl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Extracted from:
WORLD WIDE WORDS ISSUE 171 Saturday 18 December 1999
Editor: Michael Quinion Thornbury, Bristol, UK
Q. I recently read of a chemical term which boasted an
incredible 1,000+ letters. According to the brief piece,
the word has appeared only once or twice in journals.
A. ??? The longest one I've seen in print
is this, which makes even 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'
look tame:
methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylp
rolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylaspartylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleucylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylprolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine.
This is said to be the full name, 1913 characters, for tryptophan
synthase, a protein, which has 267 amino acids in it (I haven't
counted).
I extracted this monster from _The Word Lover's Dictionary_ by
Josefa Heifetz, but it is also cited in _Mrs Byrne's Dictionary
of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words_ by the same author.
If you want to break it down into its components, it consists of
many repetitions of the adjectival forms of the names of amino acids,
such as 'alanyl', 'methionyl', 'threonyl', and 'valyl', all of
which end in 'yl', with one instance of 'serine' at the end.
The results of such amalgamations can be as big as you like, but
they are for all practical purposes meaningless, and no biochemist
would ever use them in real life. It was the German influence on
chemical matters in the nineteenth century which left us with a
legacy in which we write 'dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane' as one
word (though we usually abbreviate it to DDT) and record such
compounds as 'dimethylsulphoniopropionate',
'octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane', and 'ribolosediphosphocarboxylase' as
long strings of characters.
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