supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

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super­cali­fragi­listic­expi­ali­docious

Wikipedia

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”.^[1] 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:^[2]

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.^[1] 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 highly educable”.^[3]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsuːpəˌkælɨˌfɹæd͡ʒɨˌlɪstɪkˌɛkspɪˌælɨˈdəʊʃəs/
• (General American) enPR: so͞o'pər-kăl'ĭ-fră'jĭ-lĭs'tĭk-ĕk'spē-ăl'ĭ-dōʹshəs, IPA^(key): /ˌsupɚˌkælɪ̈ˌfɹæd͡ʒɪ̈ˌlɪstɪkˌɛkspiˌælɪ̈ˈdoʊʃəs/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊʃəs
• Hyphenation: su‧per‧cal‧i‧frag‧i‧lis‧tic‧ex‧pi‧a‧li‧do‧cious

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (not comparable)

1. (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.

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

• → Italian: supercalifragilistichespiralidoso
• → Spanish: supercalifragilisticoexpialidoso

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• “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.