● A WORD IN ENGLISH FROM DR DANNY AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLINIC Words are all around us; in newspapers, books and magazines, on the sides of buses and in the letters we write and read, expressing messages of affection and disappointment, of congratulations and commiserations. Words offer us the ability to share our hopes and memories, our fears and desires, scribbled on the back of an envelope or painstakingly collected into vast repositories of knowledge. The history of words is a history of conflict and resolution, of separation and integration; the history of words is the history of ideas and emotions, it is the history of the extended family of humanity. From the first word we utter to our final farewell to the world we share our lives with words.

Have you ever wondered what the longest word in the English language is? The longest word in any reliable English language dictionary is ?pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis?, a word that refers to a lung disease supposedly experienced by some of those unfortunate enough to have inhaled volcanic ash!

Over the coming weeks and months I will be answering your questions regarding words and phrases, so if there is anything that you have ever wondered, when is it correct to use ?persons? and when is correct to use ?people? for example, please let me know by writing to the address which appears at the bottom of this collection of words. Maybe you?d like to offer a favourite word or phrase in English, and let others share your pleasure.

I personally have two favourite words, one of which is ?mellifluous?, for no other reason than that I like the way it sounds. In case you were wondering, the longest non-technical word is ?floccinaucinihilipilification?, ?the act of estimating something as worthless,? and reminds me of my other favourite word? ?irony?, because I?m not entirely sure that I know what it means.

<I>Please contact your Language Doctor by emailing [email protected]</I>