A schoolboy has stunned MPs and made it into the records books by uttering the longest word ever spoken at the House of Commons.
Sixteen year old Michael Bryan coined the 45 letter, 17 syllable word “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis” during a Youth Select Committee meeting.
It is the longest word in the Oxford dictionary and, if you could fit it on the board, it would score 70 points in a game of Scrabble – that’s before you factor in double and triple letter bonus points.
Previous record holder was plain English in comparison
The previous Westminster record was held by Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg with 29 letters.
He said “floccinaucinihilipilification” which is the “action or habit of estimating something as worthless” at Westminster five years ago.
Bournemouth born Michael described his record-breaking utterance as “ridiculous” but added: “It’s a real word. It’s a lung disease which can be caused by being around volcanoes too much.”
He used it during a debate to highlight the “grave inconsistency” in addressing health conditions.
Michael has won a scholarship to study six A-Levels at the £11,000 a term Canford School in Wimborne, Dorset.
Word-wizard Michael is destined for a life in politics
He hopes to study history and politics at Oxford University before working in the civil service and eventually becoming an MP.
The definition for pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis in the Oxford dictionary is “a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust”.
It was first recorded in the 1930s after being invented by Everett M Smith, president of the National Puzzlers’ League.
The insurance specialists at Adrian Flux like a game of Scrabble as much as the next person but don’t expect to be bamboozled by such vocabulary when you phone for your insurance quote.
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