Off topic: Rare type of English words Autor de la hebra: craigs
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craigs
Local time: 16:55
inglés al portugués
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How can I resist another game?!
Several words in the English language have three sets of double letters (such as committee).
However very few have three sets that are consecutive (no letters in between them).
In fact I can think of only one.
How many do you know in either category?
If you are wondering which one I know, read the following hint.
If you don't want the hint, skim past the next line; and for your sake, it ... See more How can I resist another game?!
Several words in the English language have three sets of double letters (such as committee).
However very few have three sets that are consecutive (no letters in between them).
In fact I can think of only one.
How many do you know in either category?
If you are wondering which one I know, read the following hint.
If you don't want the hint, skim past the next line; and for your sake, it is spelled backwards.
nairarbil a ot nika ▲ Collapse
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Nesrin 
Reino Unido
Local time: 21:55
inglés al árabe
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Wouldn't have found it without the hint though!
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Stephen Rifkind
Israel
Local time: 23:55
Miembro 2004
francés al inglés
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is the second one.
Also, skiing is the only word I know that has double i.
Stephen Rifkind
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And don't forget the double "u" in vacuum.
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lexical
España
Local time: 22:55
portugués al inglés
| Knightsbridge | May 6, 2007 |
Knightsbridge - the name of a district in London - is said to be the English word with the largest number of uninterrupted consonants - 6.
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Jan Willem van Dormolen (X)
Países Bajos
Local time: 22:55
inglés al neerlandés
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| Angstschreeuw | May 6, 2007 |
Talking about consecutive consonants - this is the Dutch winner, 8 consonants in a row. The word means 'cry of fear'.
We used to have a pretty neat one with vowels (7!) too:
koeieuier (cow's udder),
but since the spelling reform of a couple of years back, we now are supposed to write 'koeienuier', which is really bad.
Any better ones in other languages?
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Jack Doughty
Reino Unido
Local time: 21:55
ruso al inglés
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In Memoriam
The Russian word "бодрствовать" (bodrstvovat), meaning to keep awake, or keep vigil, has more consecutive consonants than any other word I know in that language; only five, but unlike Knightsbridge, they are all pronounced. There is a Russian tongue-twister: "Он бодрствовал в Пскове" (on bodrstvoval v Pskove), meaning: he kept vigil in Pskov.
[Edited at 2007-05-06 09:17]
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| German and Italian | May 6, 2007 |
As for German, Geschichtsschreibung (historiography) is the first that comes to my mind - 8 consonants in a row. I don't think any Italian word has more than 3, but the word "cuoiaio" (tanner) has no less than 6 vowels in a row
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eesegura
Local time: 15:55
español al inglés
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Bookkeeping (or other variations of bookkeep) is the only English word I know of that has three consecutive double letters.
Cheers.
Oops! - just saw the previous entry! But I didn't need the hint, as I learned this in high school. Thanks for the reminder!
[Edited at 2007-05-06 16:12]
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Jim Tucker (X)
Estados Unidos
húngaro al inglés
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| Similar but different | May 6, 2007 |
If memory serves, the Dutch word "tweeerlei" (of two sorts") is pretty neat, in that it has the same letter three times in a row. (Though I think it should have a diaeresis on the last e - still, it's the same letter).
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Prokop Vantuch
República Checa
Local time: 22:55
Miembro 2005
inglés al checo
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| Strč prst skrz krk. | May 7, 2007 |
In Czech we have this whole sentence containing only consontants. It is widely known and used as a tonguetwister.
Prokop
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www.joey.cz
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| few more words with three sets of consecutive double letters | May 7, 2007 |
HOOFFOOTED, VENEER-ROOM, & TOOT-TOOT.
Also, I have heard that TAXI is spelled the same way in at least 14 languages: English, Hindi, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Czech, Slovak, Portuguese, Urdu. any other language in this row?
Language Aide
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Zamira B.
Reino Unido
Local time: 21:55
Miembro 2006
inglés al ruso
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| One more from 'committee' type | May 7, 2007 |
craigs wrote:
How many do you know in either category?
addressee.
Actually two so far. The second is 'aggressiveness'.
[Edited at 2007-05-07 11:12]
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Nadine Kahn
Alemania
Local time: 22:55
inglés al alemán
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| I'm not sure... | May 7, 2007 |
... but I think some of the words you've mentioned need a hyphen in between.
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