List of the longest English words with one syllable

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This is a list of candidates for longest English word of one syllable, i.e. monosyllables with the most letters. Some candidates are questionable on grounds of spelling, pronunciation, or status as obsolete, dialect, proper noun, or nonce word.

Contents

[edit] List

word pronunciation letters source notes
squirrelled /ˈskwɝːld/ 11 LPD;[1] MWOD[2] compressed American pronunciation of a word which in British RP always has two syllables /ˈskwɪrəld/. In America the given spelling is a variant of the more usual squirreled: see -led and -lled spellings.
broughammed /ˈbruːmd/ 11 Sc.Am.[3] meaning "travelled by brougham", by analogy with bussed, biked, carted etc. Suggested by poet William Harman in a competition to find the longest monosyllable.
schmaltzed /ˈʃmɔːltst/, /ˈʃmɒltst/, /ˈʃmæltst/ 10 OED[4] meaning "imparted a sentimental atmosphere to" e.g. of music; with a 1969 attestation for the past tense.
squirreled /ˈskwɝːld/ 10 LPD;[1] MWOD[2] the more usual American spelling of squirrelled.
scrootched /ˈskruːtʃt/ 10 AHD[5] variant of scrooched, meaning "crouched"
scroonched /ˈskrʊnʃt/ 10 W3NID[6] variant of scrunched, meaning "squeezed".
scraunched /ˈskrɔːnʃt/ 10 W3NID[6] a "chiefly dialect" word, meaning "crunched". This is the longest in a 1957 list of 9,123 English monosyllables.[7]
broughamed /ˈbruːmd/ 10 Shaw[8] a shorter variant of broughammed, used by George Bernard Shaw in a piece of journalism.
strengthed /ˈstrɛŋθt/ 10 OED[9] an obsolete verb meaning "strengthen", "force", and "summon one's strength". The latest citation is 1614 (1479 for strengthed), at which time the Early Modern English pronunciation would have been disyllabic.
schwartzed /ˈʃwɔrtst/ 10 [10] meaning "responded 'schwartz' to a player without making eye-contact" in the game zoom schwartz profigliano.
schnappsed /ˈʃnæpst/ 10 Sc.Am.[3] meaning "drank schnapps"; proposed by poet George Starbuck in the same competition won by his friend William Harman.

[edit] Proper names

Some nine-letter proper names remain monosyllabic when adding a tenth letter and apostrophe to form the possessive:

It is productive in English to convert a (proper) noun into an eponymous verb or adjective:

  • A 2007–08 promotion in France used the slogan "Do you Schweppes?", implying a past tense Schweppesed (11 letters) for the putative verb.[12]
  • Schwartzed (10 letters) has been used to mean "(re)designed in the style of Martha Schwartz"[13]
  • Schwartzed has also been used to mean "crossed swords with Justice Alan R. Schwartz"[14]
  • Schmertzed (10 letters) has been used to mean "received undue largesse from New York City through the intervention of negotiator Eric J. Schmertz"[15]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Wells, John C. (2000). Longman Pronouncing Dictionary (2nd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-36467-7. 
  2. ^ a b Spelling: "2squirrel". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squirrel%5B2%5D. Retrieved on 2009-01-14. 
    Pronunciation: "1squirrel". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squirrel. Retrieved on 2009-01-14. 
  3. ^ a b Gardner, Martin (April 1979). "Mathematical games". Scientific American 240 (4). 
  4. ^ "schmaltz, v.". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). 1989. 
  5. ^ Joseph P. Pickett et al., ed (2000). "scrooch". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-82517-2. http://www.bartleby.com/61/29/S0172900.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-14. 
  6. ^ a b Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. 1966. ISBN 0-7135-1038-2. 
  7. ^ Moser, Henry M.; John J. Dreher, Herbert J. Oyer (June 1957) Technical report No. 57. Ohio State University Research Foundation. Report. cited in Rabel-Heymann, Lili (1972). "The disreputable monosyllable". in M. Estellie Smith. Studies in Linguistics in honor of George L. Trager. Janua Linguarum. Series Maior, 52. The Hague: Mouton. pp. 295;302. 
  8. ^ Shaw, George Bernard (1932). Our Theatres in the Nineties. London: Constable and Company. p. 205. "...horsed and broughamed, painted and decorated, furnished and upholstered..." 
  9. ^ "strength, v.". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). 1989. 
  10. ^ Cullen, Ruth (2006). The Little Black Book of Party Games: The Essential Guide to Throwing the Best Bashes. Illustrated by Kerren Barbas. Peter Pauper Press. pp. 14. ISBN 1593599196. "If the first person has been schwartzed, he can either look at a new person and say "Zoom," or send it right back to the second person by saying "Pifigiano"" 
  11. ^ "Scoughall". Scripture Union Holidays. 2007. http://www.suholidays.org.uk/sites/scoughall.htm. Retrieved on 2009-01-15. "Scoughall (pronounced “skole”) is in East Lothian, not far from North Berwick." 
  12. ^ "Do you Schweppes" (in French). Orangina Schweppes. December 2007. http://www.doyouschweppes.com/. Retrieved on 2009-07-06. 
  13. ^ Diesenhouse, Susan (June 26, 2004). "Landscapes of the mind". Boston Globe. archinect. http://archinect.com/news/article.php?id=3173_0_24_0_C. Retrieved on 2009-01-15. "So distinctive is her style that her name has become a Euro design verb, as in Barclays at Canary Wharf is being 'Schwartzed.' "" 
  14. ^ Mandel, Roberta G. (Spring 2005). "The End of an Era at the Third District Court of Appeal: The Retirement of Judge Robert L. Shevin, Judge Mario P. Goderich and Chief Judge Alan R. Schwartz" (PDF). The Record (Tallahassee: Florida Bar, Appellate Section) XI (1): 8. http://www.flabarappellate.org/pdf/App-0505.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-01-14. "there is no other jurist who has inspired the formation of a new terminology:“to be Schwartzed” or “to get Schwartzed” or “passing the Schwartz test.”". 
  15. ^ Barbanel, Josh (October 23, 1990). "Negotiator's Quiet Style Elicits Loud Protest". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DF143EF930A15753C1A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved on 2009-01-15. ""I have now turned Schmertz into a verb and a noun," the former Mayor said. "If you have been abused, we say you have been Schmertzed. If you get an unwarranted and undeserved payment from the City of New York, you say, 'Thank you Mr. Mayor, for the Schmertz.' "" 

[edit] External links

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