Articles and Stories

January 17, 2017

Is there really such a thing as the longest word or can we create one that can continue to grow?

Mark Twain said in “That Awful German Language” that “Some German words are so long that they have a perspective.”

This is true! Where the English language uses two, three or more words, Germans tend to string words together to form a new word. One of the famous long words in German is ‘Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän‘ which translates to ‘Danube steamship company captain.’ But this word can even be extended further by stringing more words to the end:

Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

This translates to: "association of subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services.”

Unless this word is displayed on one line, it must be separated, which can then be viewed as having a dash, so we gave it a full line.

One German took this to the next level and created this funny animated video with what is believed to be the longest word in the German language, and if you try to read along, you will realize that it is also a tongue twister. The drawings help to understand the words and help to read along:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG62zay3kck

But to make it really understandable, the website ‘Language Surfer’ transcribed and translated the text: http://www.languagesurfer.com/2015/02/18/rhabarberbarbara-translation-a-german-tongue-twister/

So, read along and enjoy, here is the translation of the Barbara who baked the wonderful rhubarb cakes:

In a small village, there once lived a girl with the name Barbara.

And Barbara was known everywhere for her wonderful rhubarb cake.

Therefore she was also called Rhabarberbarbara (Rhubarb Barbara).

Rhabarberbarbara noticed quickly that she could make money with her cakes and opened a bar: The Rhabarberbarbarabar (Rhubarb Barbara Bar).

The Rhabarberbarbarabar went well and quickly had regular customers.

And the three most well-known of them, three Barbarians, came so often to the Rhabarberbarbarabar to eat Rhabarberbarbara’s delicious rhubarb cake that they were called the Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbaren (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians) for short.

The Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbaren had beautiful beards. And when the Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbaren wanted to maintain their Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbärte (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians Beards), they went to the barber.

The only barber that could handle such a Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbart (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians’ Beard) was called Rhabarberbarbarabarbabarenbartbarbier (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians Beard Barber).

The Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbier also liked to go to the Rhabarberbarbarabar. And in addition to eating Rhabarberbarbara’s delicious rhubarb cake, he liked to drink a beer, which he ceremoniously called Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbier (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians Beard Barber Beer).

The Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbier could only be purchased at a very specific bar.

And the person selling the Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbier at the counter of the Rhabarberbarbarabarbabarenbartbarbierbierbar (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians Beard Barber Beer Bar) was named Bärbel.

And so the Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbaren, together with the Rhabarberbarbarabarbabarenbartbarbier and Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbel (Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians Beard Barber Beer Bar Bärbel), went to the Rhabarberbarbarabar to eat Rhabarberbarbara’s delicious rhubarb cake and to clink a glass of Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbier.

Prost!