The Deets

7 Comments on “11 Words that Should be Shorter”

1. 
   Kirk
   January 18th, 2007 at 9:03 pm

   Actually, maybe the conversation should be turned to the fact that the QWERTY keyboard is so problematic. I mean, the layout was designed to be as inefficient as possible. Why are we still using this system? I’m guessing that I could type specification twice as fast with an efficient layout. And eleven? I might even use 11 to spell that.

   K

2. 
   Mike N.
   January 18th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

   Very few of these words are not, er, abbreviated in one way or another. Ironically, abbreviated is one of the few that isn’t. Here’s my breakdown…

   1. see above
   2. I’m okay with this word’s length. Labeling something as inconsequential is pretty damning. It deserves a big dramtic sounding word.
   3. Again, another pretty powerful word. Brings to mind words like solidarity and unity. It deserves its length.
   4. Clementine. Pineapple. Coconut. Exotic and/or citrusy fruits warrant long names.
   5. Mass
   6. Tpups
   7. Petrol (gotta love the Brits)
   8. ATM fix everything.
   9. sex
   10. specs
   11. 11

3. 
   Kirk
   January 18th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

   By nosotros, do you mean “we”? If you start using other languages words, I would definitely head towards the german language. They string together 6 words into one word and call it good like– Fussballweltmeisterschaftsqualifikationsspiel that should

   Check out the website http://www.serve.com/shea/longword.htm

   for more information

4. 
   kohler
   January 18th, 2007 at 11:15 pm

   Kirk, my German is too rusty to think of example outside of wienerschnitzel, which is kind of fun to say. Is that one word?

   Mike, I hadn’t thought about the power of words justifying their length. That’s something to ponder.

   Ben, of BenCredible is a big fan of Dvorak keyboards. They’re optimized for fast typing where the keys you actually use the more are under your fingers rather than up or down. QWERTY keyboards were actually designed into the specifications of old-school typewriters to keep them from jamming. An inconsequential issue today in a world where I can hit eleven strokes a second without making my Macbook sweat.

5. 
   Mike N.
   January 20th, 2007 at 7:08 am

   And as I think about it more, eleven, thanks to This Is Spinal Tap is one of our most culturally relevant number, so again it deserves a few extra syllables. And if you gotta hate on a number for being too long, what about seventeen? Plus it’s a really shitty magazine.

6. 
   kohler
   January 20th, 2007 at 10:10 am

   If it wasn’t for eleven, kids wouldn’t have such a hard time learning to count to twelve. That’s my gripe.

7. 
   Mike N.
   January 20th, 2007 at 3:42 pm

   You know, for ahwile I have been putting together a blog post in my mind about “what is the first number to not have a nickname?” Your post has inspired to finally write that post. It will be forthcoming. I know you can’t wait…

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