Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (pronounced /ˌsuːpərˌkælɪˌfrædʒəlˌɪstɪkˌɛkspiːˌælɪˈdoʊʃəs/) is an English word, with 34 letters, that was a song with the same title in the Disney musical movie Mary Poppins. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers,[1] and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It also appears in the stage show version of Mary Poppins.
The writers of the Oxford English Dictionary think that the word "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" was first used in the 1940s.[2] The word is a compound word, and said by Richard Lederer in his book Crazy English to be made up of these words: super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and -docious "educable", with all of these parts combined meaning "Atoning for educability through delicate beauty." According to the movie, in which the word became widely used, the word is "something to say when you have nothing to say". However, a lot of people think the word means "extraordinarily good" or "wonderful" because all mentions of the word in the movie can be thought of as good.
References
- ↑ "'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' composer Sherman dies". monroenews.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ↑ "Home : Oxford English Dictionary". Retrieved 4 March 2016.
