# 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”. 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:
   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. 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”.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌsuːpəˌkælɨˌfɹæd͡ʒɨˌlɪstɪkˌɛkspɪˌælɨˈdəʊʃəs/
* (General American) enPR: so͞o'pər-kăl'ĭ-fră'jĭ-lĭs'tĭk-ĕk'spē-ăl'ĭ-dōʹshəs, IPA: /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.
** 2010 March 15, Rose Madeline Mula, The Beautiful People and Other Aggravations, Gretna: Pelican Publishing, →ISBN, →OL, page 91:By comparison with the present transcribers, I'm sure my performance would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
** 2011, Mary B. Allberry, I Ain't Done Yet, Victoria: FriesenPress, →ISBN, →OL, page 91:This is a real biggie so pay attention—I still pinch myself occasionally to even believe I did this; it was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

#### Usage notes

* Often cited as an example of a very long word.

#### Derived terms

* supercalifragilistic
* supercalifragilisticexpialidociously
* supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness

#### 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 2 “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.