Home > Floccinaucinihilipilification

It is pronounced \'flä-chE-'nau-chE-ni-'hi-lE-'pi-lE-fI-'ca-shun\. (Pronunciation Symbols) It may also be pronounced "FLOK-sih-noh-see-NEE-hee-lee-PEE-lih-fih-KAY-shun".

It is the longest non-technical word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, where it dates back to 1741. The first use the OED gives is from the poet William Shenstone in 1741: "I loved him for nothing so much as his flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money".

It is said to have been made up as an erudite joke by an Eton College student, who, upon consulting a Latin textbook, found four words meaning 'nothing' or 'worthless,' tacked them all together, and added verb endings. The OED called it "a well-known rule from the Eton Latin Grammar." The four Latin words are:

• floccus, -i a wisp or piece of wool, used idiomatically as flocci non facio - "I don't care" (literally "I don't make a piece of wool")
• naucum, -i a trifle
• nihilum, -i nothing; something valueless
• pilus, -i a hair; a bit or a whit; something small and insignificant

In fact, as given in the OED, the word includes four sets of quotation marks and is presented thus:

"Flocci" "nauci" "nihili" "pili" fication

The OED appears to have overlooked the more popular present form, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, which has one letter more than the nominal form, and means "small" or "insignificant."

It is often spelled with hyphens, and has even spawned the back formations: floccinaucical ("inconsiderable, trifling") and floccinaucity ("thing of small importance").

Quotations

• Sir Walter Scott (Journal, March 8, 1826, with 'pauci' as the second element rather than 'nauci'):

[... I] have arrived at a flocci-pauci-nihili-pili-fication of money, and I thank Shenstone for inventing that long word.

• The comic strip Zippy the Pinhead (March 14, 1996):

"Do you think I may be too quick to find fault with things and people, Zippy?"

"Yeh."

"Th' 'floccinaucinihilipilification' process."

"Th' what?"

"Floccinaucinihilipilification!! It means 'the estimation of something as valueless'!"

"You've been randomly reading th' dictionary, haven't you?"

"Yes. That and my natural tendency toward antifloccinaucinihilipilification!!"

• Jesse Helms, in reference to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty:

"I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the CTBT." (Helms claims he learned the word from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan)

• Mike McCurryMike McCurry , born 21 December 1954 in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and educated at Princeton and Georgetown, is an American politician, lobbyist, theologian, and educator. Best known as the former press secretary for Bill Clinton's administration, he is the CEO, United States President Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) is a U. politician who served two terms as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A moderate Democrat who was elected Governor of Arkansas five times, Cli's press secretary:

"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."

• Robert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein ( July 7, 1907 May 8, 1988) was one of the most influential authors in the science fiction genre. He developed new themes, new techniques and approaches. He became the first science fiction writer to break into major general magazine, in The Number of the BeastThe Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980 (BooksEnthsiast.com). The book is a series of diary entries by each of the 4 main characters, Captain Zebadiah, programmer Deety and her math professor father, and:

"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.)

• Bob BlackBob Black is an American anarchist. He is the author of The Abolition of Work and other essays The Best Book Catalogue In The World by Bob Black Friendly Fire and Anarchy After Leftism''. He has also written numerous critiques of other anarchists, notedly, in "A Study In Floccinaucinihilipilification"[1]

slams anarchists Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin (born January 14, 1921) is an American anarchist/ libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the " Social Ecology" school of anarchist and environmental thought. He was born in New York City and grew up as a self-described "r and Timothy Balash