What the heck's a ‘sesquipedalian’ ?
We repeat: What the heck's a ‘sesquipedalian?' (ses-kwə-pə-ˈdāl-yən) Last night on the Web and in today’s print edition of the New York Times, William F. Buckley Jr. was eulogized as a “Sesquipedalian spark of right.” Huh?
The conservative author and commentator died yesterday at the age of 82. And in life, the prolific and often caustic writer was a man of many big words. (that's a hint!)
Katie Couric tried to mooch in on the big word game in last night’s CBS Evening News broadcast and predictably stumbled over the polysyllabic tongue twister.
The jig is up Katie – We thinks you’ve never heard the word either. [Watch the video]
Now we at Urbanite don’t want to presume anything regarding the linguistic expertise of our readers – but come on, isn’t it the first time you’ve heard this word too?
So – we’re doing you a favor for when it comes up at the water cooler later today. The long, word of many syllables means just that: “having many syllables, or given to or characterized by the use of long words.”
-- Lauren Johnston
