August 27
2012
August 24
2012
Dictionary Builder: Agenesis
August 21
2012
Dictionary Builder: Schlock
August 20
2012
The Longest Word In The English Language
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest word in the English language. The word contains 45 letters, earning it the nickname “P45.”
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is defined as, “‘a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust.” Silicosis is its often-used synonym.
I haven’t put this word in my dictionary yet. I’m not sure if I ever will. Has anyone ever heard this word uttered during a court proceeding, or deposition? I couldn’t imagine what my reaction would be. Lol.
August 20
2012
Medical Monday: Histology
August 18
2012
Dictionary Builder: Settee
August 15
2012
Dictionary Builder: Adaxial
August 13
2012
Medical Monday: Achondroplasia
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines achondroplasia as “A genetic disorder disturbing normal growth of cartilage, resulting in a form of dwarfism characterized by a usually normal torso and shortened limbs, and usually inherited as a autonomic dominant trait.”
Writing “achondroplasia” on the machine, syllable by syllable, would be as follows:
/A/KOPB/TKRA/PHRAEU/SHA or /A/KHOPB/TKRA/PHRAEU/SHA or /A/KOPB/TKRA/PHRAEUZ/KWRA or /A/KHOPB/TKRA/PHRAEUZ/KWRA
August 8
2012
Dictionary Builder: Microfiche
Microfiche is described as “a sheet of microfilm containing rows of images of printed paper.”
While this word is relatively commonly-known, it wasn’t in my steno dictionary, and it is not a word that I ever recall hearing in any school dictation thus far. Therefore, I happily added it to my dictionary.
Machine Briefs:
Option #1: microfiche= MAOIK/ROE/FIFP
Option #2: microfiche= MAOIK/FIFP
Option #3: microfiche= MAOIK/ROE/FAOERB
Option #4: microfiche= MAOIK/FAOERB
August 2
2012
How Many Words Are There In The English Language?
Being that I’m on a dictionary-building mission right now, I decide to google how many words are in the English language so that I would know how far I had to go.
According to most sources, it is difficult to determine an accurate number. This is due to there being words that have multiple meanings, and therefore can be used in several different ways…What would the count be in those situations? Would the word be counted once, or per its different uses? There are also questions on how to tally: commonly used phrases, words of non-English origin that have crept into English vernacular, slang words, common abbreviations, derivatives, and words that are no longer commonly used.
According to Wikipedia: “The Oxford English Dictionary lists over 250,000 distinct words, not including many technical, scientific, and slang terms.”
According to Oxford Dictionary, their second edition contains: “Full entries for 171,476 words in current use, and 47,156 obsolete words. To this may be added around 9,500 derivative words included as subentries.
With these listed stats, I anticipate having a good bulk of all of the English words in my steno dictionary before the end of 2013.
Happy dictionary building!
