supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
English
Etymology
First attested (as supercaliflawjalisticexpialadoshus) in a 1931 Syracuse University Daily Orange column, which states that the word “implies all that is grand, great, glorious, splendid, superb, wonderful”.[1] In this spelling, it was made famous by its use in a song of the same title in the movie Mary Poppins (1964), by songwriters Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman; they wrote in 1998:[2]
When we were little boys in the mid-1930s, we went to a summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains, where we were introduced to a very long word that had been passed down in many variations through many generations of kids. […] The word as we first heard it was super-cadja-flawjalistic-espealedojus.
Apparently a fanciful formation on super (compare super-), -ic, and -ious; various rationalizations of the other elements have been offered, but none supported by any evidence.[1] One by American linguist Richard Lederer in his book Crazy English (1989) is super- “above” + cali- “beauty” + fragilistic- “delicate” + expiali- “to atone” + -docious “educable”, the sum of which equals “atoning for extreme and delicate beauty [while being] highly educable”.[3]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌsuːpəˌkælɨˌfɹæd͡ʒɨˌlɪstɪkˌɛkspɪˌælɨˈdəʊʃəs/
- (General American) enPR: so͞o'pər-kăl'ĭ-fră'jĭ-lĭs'tĭk-ĕk'spē-ăl'ĭ-dōʹshəs, IPA(key): /ˌsupɚˌkælɪ̈ˌfɹæd͡ʒɪ̈ˌlɪstɪkˌɛkspiˌælɪ̈ˈdoʊʃəs/
Audio (UK): (file) Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊʃəs
- Hyphenation: su‧per‧cal‧i‧frag‧i‧lis‧tic‧ex‧pi‧a‧li‧do‧cious
Adjective
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (not comparable)
- (humorous) Fantastic, very wonderful
- 1964 August 27, Mary Poppins, spoken by Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews):
- It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Usage notes
- Often cited as an example of a very long word.
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Italian: supercalifragilistichespiralidoso
- → Spanish: supercalifragilisticoexpialidoso
Translations
See also
- antidisestablishmentarianism
- floccinaucinihilipilification
- dacryocystorhinostomy
- hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
- pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
References
- “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- ^ Robert B[ernard] Sherman, Richard M[orton] Sherman (1998) Bruce Gordon, David Mumford, Jeff Kurtti, editors, Walt’s Time: From Before to Beyond, Santa Clarita, Calif.: Camphor Tree, →ISBN.
- ^ Richard Lederer (1989 September) “Sesquipedalian English”, in Crazy English: The Ultimate Joy Ride Through Our Language, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, chapter I (The Strange Case of the English Language), page 39.
