2541: 'Sesquipedalian' and a Phobia of Syllables Nov 27, 2021

The word 'hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' refers to the irrational fear of many syllables, but it is also somewhat nonsensical. Its creation being so absurdly long was purposeful, and can be broken down into elements 'monstrum' (monster) which is an English understanding of the Latin meaning 'portent', but even more ridiculous is that the first element is from 'hippopotamus'. The whole thing really is an extension of 'sesquipedalian' which means 'polysyllabic' or more colloquially 'long-winded' from the Latin 'sesquipedalis' meaning 'a foot and a half'. In Latin, this term also related to excessive speech.