The longer the better?

Does Sci Fi use Sesquipedalianisms ?

‘Sesquipedalianisms’ has been a mildly trendy word among the literati for a while now. Generally it is a negative term taken to mean long and difficult words, which should not be used unless necessary. This is a fault that can be found in Science Fiction, but to what extent and for what reason does it occur?

A dedicated search has revealed that Sesquipedalianisms are long words . ‘Sesqui’ means one and a half and ‘pedus’ is latin for foot so we have words that are made of too many feet or syllables.
The Roman poet Horace identified sesquipedalis in his Ars Poetica and warned new poets against their use, as well as other no-no’s. So the invocation to simplicity in writing began in Roman times and has never left us. Shakespeare favoured monosyllables as did the great Dictionary writer Dr. Johnson who believed in language being precise and pleasing to the ear.

Unfortunately, English is the kind of language that encourages the formation of polysyllabic words. This is for two reasons:
· The use of prefixes and suffixes makes it easy to create longer and longer words e.g. antidisestablishmentarianism. Prefixes anti + dis + suffixes arian + ism
· Borrowing from other languages allows the importation of ready-made long words e.g. bouleversement, epithalamium, pseudepigrapha, onomatopoeia, schadenfraude. Languages like Japanese build words by using blocks of syllables. This is reflected in the names used in Anime.

Situations where long words may be desirable:

· Science: It may be better to use a long, very precise word for scientific processes and properties. Prefixes such as hydroxyl and ethyl make words complicated to remember but their names give their chemical composition. Dinosaur names differentiate each creature from others, even quite similar reptiles being named differently. It’s not always easy to justify their being named after places, but once again their names tell us something about them.

· Nonsense verse: The diametrical opposite of the importance of scientific naming (nomenclature) is the use of long words in poetry and fantasy, particularly for children.
So there is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. There is Ogden Nash’s Hipporhinosticrow and the Crocadongasaurus from Australia.
What’s interesting about these words is that they developed in the 19th Century as if in response to the growing scientific vocabulary of the times. They also seem to come predominantly from England, with some from Australia. They are not serious words, but often satirise serious scientific names.

(However I have found one example in the Roman poet Seneca who wrote Apolocyntosis divi Claudii or the Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius.)


So where are long words used in Science Fiction?

If you take a long word to be eleven letters or longer, there are two major areas where you find sesquipedalis in Science Fiction:

Character Names:

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Jsthill – aka Ax – Animporphs
Bakunetsumaru –SD Gundam
Bannakaffalatta –Doctor Who Voyage of the Damned
Hammersterviel – Stitch! The Movie
Quordlepleen – aka Max - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Pepperwinkle (Professsor) - The Adventures of Superman: The Phony Alibi, The Big Forget, The Gentle Monster
Perpugilliam (Brown) – aka Peri- Doctor Who Planet of Fire to The Trial of a Timelord
Romanadvoratrelundar – aka Romana – Doctor Who The Ribos Operation to The Armageddon Factor
Slartibartfast – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Creature Names:

Brachiosaurus : Dinotopia 1
Houynhnms : Gullivers Travels
Muttaburrasaurus – The Land Before Time III
Ornithantrope: Barbarella
Quantasaurus Megazord – Power Rangers: Time Force
Quetzalcoatl - Q: The Winged Serpent/SG1 Crystal skull
Quetzalcoatlus – Turok Evolution
Phantasmagoria - Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead
Tyrannodrones – Power Rangers Turbo
Tyrannosaurus Dinotopia 1 ; Journey to the Centre of the Earth 2009; The Land Before Time 1988

Planet/Galaxy/ CityNames :
Castrovalva : Doctor Who: Castrovalva – planet
Kasteroborous – Doctor Who – Constellation
Raxacoricofallapatorius - Doctor Who: Boom Town; Sarah Jane Adventures: The Revenge of the Slitheen – planet
Zignamuclickclick – Rimworld (L. Niven) – City

Technobabble:

Alternativerse – Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis) - Dimension
Heldaparadol – X-Files: The Sixth Extinction – Drug
Histaminolytic – Stargate SG1: The Broca Divide – virus
Histocompatability – Lexx: Dutch Treat – Scientific Method
Hyperspectral Imaging - Andromeda: Phear Phactor Phenom - investigative technique.
Hypertrichosis Lanuganosa – X-files :The Post-Modern Prometheus – over-hairiness
Hypnobioscope - Marvo 1.2 Go+ - learning machine.
Hyvroxilated Metacetamine – Deep Space 9 : Rivals – anaesthetic drink
Persephonet – Dreamships (Melissa Scott) – communications
Pharmacognosia - Farscape: Bone To Be Wild- Medicinal garden
Phenchloramide – Surface- Drug
Pneumocystis Jiroveci – The 4400: The Fifth Page – disease
Psychomagnatheric – Ghostbusters II – slime power
Psychoprojective – Deep Space 9: Second Sight – type of telepath
Psychoreactive Substance – Ghostbusters II – slime
Tetrachloroethylene – Stargate SG1 :Foothold
Thunderbusters – Metal Mickey – energy source
Superconductive Interfaces – Stargate SG1: Solitudes – Stargate feature
Superconductive Ring – Stargate SG1: The Torment of Tantalus Stargate feature

Random

Brobdignagian – Gulliver’s Travels – giant human
Malgalityfel – Zone of the Elders: Dolores 1 – Martian candy
Nietzschean – Andromeda - type of human
Quadrotricitale Futures – Deep Space Nine: Business as Usual – stocks
Quanchantaug – X-files: Talitha Cumi – real location
Quipucamayocuna – Babel-17 (Delaney) – rank

Sometimes :

Occasionally a name is comprised of three parts but is spoken as one word, giving the viewer the idea that it is one long word:

Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis Farscape: season three Aka Jool



Thoughts

It looks like sesquipedialanisms work the same way in science fiction as they do in other literature:

· Names of characters and places that are long are fanciful and silly, often replaced with a shorter, useful name.
· Names of scientific processes and creatures are made to sound scientific, using prefixes in particular. These words are not shortened and often trip up the actors trying to say them repeatedly. Ten letters works, after that it gets too technical and too much.

But after all that, there aren’t that many over-long words in science fiction, thank goodness.


Bibliography


Concise Oxford Dictionary Oxford University Press, London 1984
McKenzie’s Science Fiction Dictionary – unpublished, 2010
Penguin Guide to Plain English - The Penguin Group, 2000







Does Sci Fi use Sesquipedalianisms ?

‘Sesquipedalianisms’ has been a mildly trendy word among the literati for a while now. Generally it is a negative term taken to mean long and difficult words, which should not be used unless necessary. This is a fault that can be found in Science Fiction, but to what extent and for what reason does it occur?

A dedicated search has revealed that Sesquipedalianisms are long words . ‘Sesqui’ means one and a half and ‘pedus’ is latin for foot so we have words that are made of too many feet or syllables.
The Roman poet Horace identified sesquipedalis in his Ars Poetica and warned new poets against their use, as well as other no-no’s. So the invocation to simplicity in writing began in Roman times and has never left us. Shakespeare favoured monosyllables as did the great Dictionary writer Dr. Johnson who believed in language being precise and pleasing to the ear.

Unfortunately, English is the kind of language that encourages the formation of polysyllabic words. This is for two reasons:
· The use of prefixes and suffixes makes it easy to create longer and longer words e.g. antidisestablishmentarianism. Prefixes anti + dis + suffixes arian + ism
· Borrowing from other languages allows the importation of ready-made long words e.g. bouleversement, epithalamium, pseudepigrapha, onomatopoeia, schadenfraude. Languages like Japanese build words by using blocks of syllables. This is reflected in the names used in Anime.

Situations where long words may be desirable:

· Science: It may be better to use a long, very precise word for scientific processes and properties. Prefixes such as hydroxyl and ethyl make words complicated to remember but their names give their chemical composition. Dinosaur names differentiate each creature from others, even quite similar reptiles being named differently. It’s not always easy to justify their being named after places, but once again their names tell us something about them.

· Nonsense verse: The diametrical opposite of the importance of scientific naming (nomenclature) is the use of long words in poetry and fantasy, particularly for children.
So there is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. There is Ogden Nash’s Hipporhinosticrow and the Crocadongasaurus from Australia.
What’s interesting about these words is that they developed in the 19th Century as if in response to the growing scientific vocabulary of the times. They also seem to come predominantly from England, with some from Australia. They are not serious words, but often satirise serious scientific names.

(However I have found one example in the Roman poet Seneca who wrote Apolocyntosis divi Claudii or the Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius.)


So where are long words used in Science Fiction?

If you take a long word to be eleven letters or longer, there are two major areas where you find sesquipedalis in Science Fiction:

Character Names:

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Jsthill – aka Ax – Animporphs
Bakunetsumaru –SD Gundam
Bannakaffalatta –Doctor Who Voyage of the Damned
Hammersterviel – Stitch! The Movie
Quordlepleen – aka Max - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Pepperwinkle (Professsor) - The Adventures of Superman: The Phony Alibi, The Big Forget, The Gentle Monster
Perpugilliam (Brown) – aka Peri- Doctor Who Planet of Fire to The Trial of a Timelord
Romanadvoratrelundar – aka Romana – Doctor Who The Ribos Operation to The Armageddon Factor
Slartibartfast – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Creature Names:

Brachiosaurus : Dinotopia 1
Houynhnms : Gullivers Travels
Muttaburrasaurus – The Land Before Time III
Ornithantrope: Barbarella
Quantasaurus Megazord – Power Rangers: Time Force
Quetzalcoatl - Q: The Winged Serpent/SG1 Crystal skull
Quetzalcoatlus – Turok Evolution
Phantasmagoria - Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead
Tyrannodrones – Power Rangers Turbo
Tyrannosaurus Dinotopia 1 ; Journey to the Centre of the Earth 2009; The Land Before Time 1988

Planet/Galaxy/ CityNames :
Castrovalva : Doctor Who: Castrovalva – planet
Kasteroborous – Doctor Who – Constellation
Raxacoricofallapatorius - Doctor Who: Boom Town; Sarah Jane Adventures: The Revenge of the Slitheen – planet
Zignamuclickclick – Rimworld (L. Niven) – City

Technobabble:

Alternativerse – Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis) - Dimension
Heldaparadol – X-Files: The Sixth Extinction – Drug
Histaminolytic – Stargate SG1: The Broca Divide – virus
Histocompatability – Lexx: Dutch Treat – Scientific Method
Hyperspectral Imaging - Andromeda: Phear Phactor Phenom - investigative technique.
Hypertrichosis Lanuganosa – X-files :The Post-Modern Prometheus – over-hairiness
Hypnobioscope - Marvo 1.2 Go+ - learning machine.
Hyvroxilated Metacetamine – Deep Space 9 : Rivals – anaesthetic drink
Persephonet – Dreamships (Melissa Scott) – communications
Pharmacognosia - Farscape: Bone To Be Wild- Medicinal garden
Phenchloramide – Surface- Drug
Pneumocystis Jiroveci – The 4400: The Fifth Page – disease
Psychomagnatheric – Ghostbusters II – slime power
Psychoprojective – Deep Space 9: Second Sight – type of telepath
Psychoreactive Substance – Ghostbusters II – slime
Tetrachloroethylene – Stargate SG1 :Foothold
Thunderbusters – Metal Mickey – energy source
Superconductive Interfaces – Stargate SG1: Solitudes – Stargate feature
Superconductive Ring – Stargate SG1: The Torment of Tantalus Stargate feature

Random

Brobdignagian – Gulliver’s Travels – giant human
Malgalityfel – Zone of the Elders: Dolores 1 – Martian candy
Nietzschean – Andromeda - type of human
Quadrotricitale Futures – Deep Space Nine: Business as Usual – stocks
Quanchantaug – X-files: Talitha Cumi – real location
Quipucamayocuna – Babel-17 (Delaney) – rank

Sometimes :

Occasionally a name is comprised of three parts but is spoken as one word, giving the viewer the idea that it is one long word:

Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis Farscape: season three Aka Jool



Thoughts

It looks like sesquipedialanisms work the same way in science fiction as they do in other literature:

· Names of characters and places that are long are fanciful and silly, often replaced with a shorter, useful name.
· Names of scientific processes and creatures are made to sound scientific, using prefixes in particular. These words are not shortened and often trip up the actors trying to say them repeatedly. Ten letters works, after that it gets too technical and too much.

But after all that, there aren’t that many over-long words in science fiction, thank goodness.


Bibliography


Concise Oxford Dictionary Oxford University Press, London 1984
McKenzie’s Science Fiction Dictionary – unpublished, 2010
Penguin Guide to Plain English - The Penguin Group, 2000