OMG! YES YES YES!!!! YES!!!!!

[cawimmer430]

"Polizei" is the least German-looking German word ever.

Get ready to freak out! 


The Longest German Word? (Das längste deutsche Wort?)

Is there such a thing?

Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän


Students of German seem to enjoy trying to find the "longest German word." More than most other languages, German tends to string words together to form new vocabulary. All languages, including English, do this to some extent, but German really likes to create long words. As Mark Twain said, "Some German words are so long that they have a perspective."

German can do this because its grammar allows words to be strung together to form one lengthy term that English and other languages usually break up into several words. The classic longest German word is Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän, which in English becomes four words: "Danube steamship company captain." But that German word has a mere 41 letters (42 with German spelling reform, which adds another f to the "schifffahrt" element), while some longest-word candidates run as long as 80 characters.

But is there really such a thing as the longest German word... das längste deutsche Wort? Some of the suggested "longest" words are artificial creations, never used in daily spoken or written German. German numbers and scientific terms also come into the running, but a word chosen in 1999 as the longest word for that year (see below) was a "legal" word in the true sense of the term, since it referred to a law for labeling meat. But even if we accept that 63-letter word, a German-speaking person could go a very long time without ever having to read it, much less use it! For all practical purposes this longest-word contest is really just a game. It's more fun than practical. (Even a German or English Scrabble board only has room for 15 letters.) But if you'd like to play the longest-word game, here are a few selected items to consider.

Long German Words

Words listed in alphabetical order (with gender, letter count)

Betäubungsmittelverschreibungsverordnung
(die, 41 letters) "regulation requiring a prescription for an anesthetic"

Bezirksschornsteinfegermeister
(der, 30 letters) This word may be short in comparison to those below, but it's a real word submitted by Robin in our Forum, taken from a letter he received. It means roughly "head district chimney sweep."

Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerk-
bauunterbeamtengesellschaft (one word, no hyphen)
(die, 79 letters, 80 with new German spelling [one more 'f' in ...dampfschifffahrts...]) "association of subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services" (the name of a pre-war club in Vienna) - Not really useful, this word is more of a desperate attempt to lengthen the word below.

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän
(der, 42 letters) "Danube steamship company captain"

Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften
(die, plur., 39 letters) "legal protection insurance companies"
According to Guinness, this was the longest German dictionary word in everyday usage, but the word below is a longer legitimate, official "longest word" — in semi-everyday usage.

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
(das, 63 letters) "beef labeling regulation & delegation of supervision law"
This was a 1999 German Word of the Year, and it also won a special award as the longest German word for that year. It refers to a "law for regulating the labeling of beef" - all in one word, which is why it is so long. German also likes abbreviations, and this word has one: ReÜAÜG.


German Numbers - Zahlen

Another reason why there really isn't a single longest German word: German numbers, long or short, are written as one word. For example, to say or write the number 7,254, not really a very long number, the German is...
siebentausendzweihundertvierundfünfzig, a single word of 38 letters. Larger numbers would, of course, make even longer German words.


Longest English Word

Just for comparison, what about English? The longest word in English is not "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (an invented word). Just as in German, there is disagreement about the actual longest word, but English can't keep pace with German in this department.

antidisestablishmentarianism
(28 letters) a legitimate dictionary word from the 19th century meaning "opposition to the separation of church and state"

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
(45 letters) "lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust" - Linguists claim this is an artificial word, and it does not deserve true "longest word" billing.

Technical words: There are many English technical and medical terms that qualify as long words, but they are usually excluded from the longest-word game.



Link: http://german.about.com/library/blwort_long.htm

[Raza]

I prefer the Vega over the Pinto. Looks better. Never much liked the Pinto or Bobcat.

Plus the Vert-A-Pac was a pretty neat idea!

Isn't that what caused conspicuous rust on those cars?

[Secret Chimp]

Isn't that what caused conspicuous rust on those cars?

Why would transporting cars vertically cause them to rust more later?

[cawimmer430]

Isn't that what caused conspicuous rust on those cars?

I don't think so. As Carspinners (except me) would say, "The car was simply a piece of shit! It's a 1970s car!"

[Raza]

Why would transporting cars vertically cause them to rust more later?

Something about water collecting in a certain way.

[Soup DeVille]

Why would transporting cars vertically cause them to rust more later?

It got water into places where it wouldn't have otherwise. The train cars wren't exactly weatherproof.

[sparkplug]

it was the 70's. Car bodies were being lightened and paint formulas were being changed to meet new epa standardds.

[Secret Chimp]

I dunno about that first part, I remember reading an Oldsmobile ad in a mid-70s Readers Digest that boasted "it's heavier" as one of the first improvements.

[MrH]

I dunno about that first part, I remember reading an Oldsmobile ad in a mid-70s Readers Digest that boasted "it's heavier" as one of the first improvements.

"Now with added inefficiency!"

Still blows my mind that cars used to be designed to create the stiffest structure possible.  The idea of crumple zones didn't come about until the 1950's.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I dunno about that first part, I remember reading an Oldsmobile ad in a mid-70s Readers Digest that boasted "it's heavier" as one of the first improvements.

"The new oldsmobile, now with an extra 1000lbs of road hugging weight"

"Olds, we're adding weight so gravity doesn't have to do all the work"

[280Z Turbo]

"Now with added inefficiency!"

Still blows my mind that cars used to be designed to create the stiffest structure possible.  The idea of crumple zones didn't come about until the 1950's.

I think I can remember an old car ad that bragged about how flexible the chassis was because the flexing allowed for a smoother ride.

[hotrodalex]

Supposed GM (Cadillac, mostly) used to add weight to the frame to make it have a cushier ride.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Supposed GM (Cadillac, mostly) used to add weight to the frame to make it have a cushier ride.

It would have been easier to change the spring/leaf rates, that is if they didn't order 2 millions units to save .13 cents per. So lets just weld some large blocks of iron to the frame.

[hotrodalex]

I'm not sure they could have made the springs any softer without them collapsing.

[MrH]

I think I can remember an old car ad that bragged about how flexible the chassis was because the flexing allowed for a smoother ride.

This is why when I speak to old guys (like 70+ years old), and they say they were mechanical engineers, I have to ask, what the hell did they teach in school?  I don't understand how anyone thought that was a good idea.

[Soup DeVille]

It would have been easier to change the spring/leaf rates, that is if they didn't order 2 millions units to save .13 cents per. So lets just weld some large blocks of iron to the frame.

I've cut apart several Cadillacs, I never found any added weights.

[Soup DeVille]

This is why when I speak to old guys (like 70+ years old), and they say they were mechanical engineers, I have to ask, what the hell did they teach in school?  I don't understand how anyone thought that was a good idea.

Don't confuse advertising with engineering.

[Secret Chimp]

It's all about cost. My car was built with frame rails integrated into the body only in the front and rear, with the center as a single big flat shear plane with structurally unrelated quasi-rails on the outsides. You can weld in "frame connectors" that go in between the ends of the front rails and the fronts of the rear rails to stiffen the car substantially. There was no reason to build it that way other than it was cheaper and easier than running the rails the entire length of the body structure.

[Soup DeVille]

It's all about cost. My car was built with frame rails integrated into the body only in the front and rear, with the center as a single big flat shear plane with structurally unrelated quasi-rails on the outsides. You can weld in "frame connectors" that go in between the ends of the front rails and the fronts of the rear rails to stiffen the car substantially. There was no reason to build it that way other than it was cheaper and easier than running the rails the entire length of the body structure.

It also made it easier to make different length wheelbases on the same frame members.

[hotrodalex]

This is why when I speak to old guys (like 70+ years old), and they say they were mechanical engineers, I have to ask, what the hell did they teach in school?  I don't understand how anyone thought that was a good idea.

It was the best they could do with the technology, budget, and penny-pinchers that they had at the time. I'm sure if they could build a modern car back then, they would have.

[MrH]

I'm sure if they could build a modern car back then, they would have.

........wut

[hotrodalex]

I'm not sure what you don't understand about that. Today engineer's have a lot more resources and production methods to help them make the high quality cars we have today. I'm sure that if the engineers back then had the same resources, they would build similar cars. Except they didn't, so they had to work with what they had.

[hotrodalex]

To put it another way - if you were an engineer back then, what would you do differently to achieve the same goals with the same resources available?

[JWC]

I don't think the admiration of 1970's U.S. autos is odd at all.  They actually were better than most remember them.


Plus, I just found out there is a forum for vintage flashlight fans...and they make this "obsession" about Detroit iron appear pretty mild.  Those flashlight people are nuts. 

[280Z Turbo]

I don't think the admiration of 1970's U.S. autos is odd at all.  They actually were better than most remember them.


Plus, I just found out there is a forum for vintage flashlight fans...and they make this "obsession" about Detroit iron appear pretty mild.  Those flashlight people are nuts. 

Well, the Toyotas and Datsuns that people remember for being so reliable were absolute pieces of shit. Solid mechanically, and more fun to drive, but the interiors and bodywork were shit.

All it would take to turn my Z into an unsafe scrap heap is about 1 Michigan winter.

[JWC]

I have gotten a lot of shit for saying that about Toyotas and Datsuns of the era.  Honda wasn't any better.  Japanese car owners tended to be like Benz owners....very forgiving.  I towed more Benz in than Nissan and Olds when I worked there.  I even had a Benz owner apologize to me for breaking the seat adjustment knobs on this $50K car.  I couldn't tell him we dozens on hand because they were delicate pieces of plastic.

[Raza]

Well, the Toyotas and Datsuns that people remember for being so reliable were absolute pieces of shit. Solid mechanically, and more fun to drive, but the interiors and bodywork were shit.

All it would take to turn my Z into an unsafe scrap heap is about 1 Michigan winter.

They rusted very easily as well, right?

[280Z Turbo]

A '76 Chevy Camaro had a much higher quality body and interior than a '76 Datsun 280Z. And the Z cost a lot more money!

Granted, the handling, engine durability, and technology were not as good as the Z, but still. I probably would have bought a Camaro before a Z in 1976.