German word of the day… all 63 letters of it!

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

Yes, there it is, 63 whole letters of a word meaning something about the law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling…

In English we join words together, noun plus noun, noun plus verb or adverb, verb plus adverb or adjectives plus other parts of speech to make compound nouns and here are some examples:

rainfall
haircut
lookout
drawback
greenhouse
software
redhead
onlooker
bystander
output
overthrow
upturn
input

So modest compared to the German compound nouns! I’m sorry to report that Rindfleischet-etc has now been dropped from being an actual word as the law has been dropped. There are still some magnificent words though:

Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung – motor vehicle liability insurance.

Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften – insurance companies providing legal protection

and the famous Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän – Danube steamship company captain

This last one has become a bit of a pastime as people strive to extend it, Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänswitwe (the captain’s widow) and Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitänsmütze (the captain’s hat)

Still thinking about the Danube and those steamships and their officers, the longest word ever composed is Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft, the Association for Subordinate Officials of the Head Office Management of the Danube Steamboat Electrical Services

Here are a few more feeble English examples: