Here's how crazy-long German words are made

An animated guide to creating Rhababerbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbel

German words
(Image credit: (YouTube))

German is known for its extra long compound words. When Mark Twain complained that some German words were "so long they have a perspective," he was thinking of words like Freundschaftsbezeigungen (demonstrations of friendship) and Generalstaatsverordnetenversammlungen (general states representatives meetings). Long German words were in the news this year when many sources reported that Germany had "lost its longest word" because the European Union removed a law from its books called (*ahem*): Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (the law for the delegation of monitoring beef labeling).

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Arika Okrent

Arika Okrent is editor-at-large at TheWeek.com and a frequent contributor to Mental Floss. She is the author of In the Land of Invented Languages, a history of the attempt to build a better language. She holds a doctorate in linguistics and a first-level certification in Klingon. Follow her on Twitter.