# Floccinaucinihilipilification

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, floccinaucinihilipilification is the longest non-technical word in the English language. It means an estimation of something as worthless.

## Quotes

* [...] for whatever the world might esteem in poor Somervile, I really find, upon critical enquiry, that I loved him for nothing so much as his flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money.
** William Shenstone, letter (1741); anthologized in The Works, in Verse and Prose, of William Shenstone, Esq, vol. III (1769), p. 49
* From what I hear, the poor man is not sensible of the nature of his own situation; for myself, I have succeeded in putting the matters perfectly out of my mind since I cannot help them, and have arrived at a flocci-pauci-nihili-pili-fication of money, and I thank Shenstone for inventing that long word.
** Sir Walter Scott, journal (March 8, 1826), with "pauci" as the second element rather than "nauci").
* Digby was a floccinaucinihilipilificator at heart—which is an eight-dollar word meaning a joker who does not believe in anything he can't bite.
** Robert A. Heinlein, The Puppet Masters (1951).
* A slaughtered crew, a sunken ship, and my collections destroyed—these do not weigh at all against their punctilios. There is a systematic flocci-naucinihili-pilification of all other aspects of existence that angers me. I spend half my time purging them, bleeding them, prescribing low diet and soporifics. They eat far too much, and drink far too much, especially JD.
** Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander (1970).
* "Sharpie darling, you are a floccinaucinihilipilificatrix." "Is that a compliment?" "Certainly! Means you're so sharp you spot the slightest flaw." I kept quiet. It was possible that Zebadiah meant it as a compliment. Just barely— "Maybe I'd better check it in a dictionary." "By all means, dear-after you are off watch." (I dismissed the matter. Merriam Microfilm was all we had aboard and Aunt Hilda would not find that word in anything less than the O.E.D.)
** Robert A. Heinlein, in The Number of the Beast (1980) and The Pursuit of the Pankera:A Parallel Novel About Parallel Universes (2020).
* They happen to produce huge billion dollar differences over seven years in the federal budget, which is why they become fairly incendiary as the debate goes along. But if you—as a practical matter of estimating the economy, the difference is not great. There's a little bit of floccinaucinihilipilification going on here.
** Mike McCurry, United States President Bill Clinton's press secretary (December 6, 1995 press briefing).
* Griffy: Do you think I may be too quick to find fault with things & people, Zippy? Zippy: Yeh. Th' "floccinaucinihilipilification" process. Griffy: Th' what? Zippy: Floccinaucinihilipilification!! … It means "the estimation of something as valueless"! Griffy: You've been randomly reading th' dictionary, haven't you? Zippy: Yes... that and my natural tendency toward antifloccinaucinihilipilification!!
** Bill Griffith, "Zippy the Pinhead", "29 Little Letters," March 14, 1996
* Let me indulge in the floccinaucinihilipilification of EU judges [...]
** Jacob Rees-Mogg (21st February 2012)

## Attributed

* I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the C.T.B.T.
** Jesse Helms (1999), in reference to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (quoted in The New York Times, ""Defeat of a Treaty: The Tactics; Quietly and Dexterously, Senate Republicans Set a Trap," October 14, 1999).