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Big Word Day

Fun · April 21

Big Word Day invites people to notice, learn and try out long, unusual words, from sesquipedalian to defenestration, and enjoy how they sound.

Big Word Day falls on Wednesday, April 21, 2027. That is 176 days away.

Some words take their time. Big Word Day gives attention to the long ones, the many-syllabled words that sit in dictionaries waiting for someone brave enough to say them out loud.

English has plenty to choose from. Many of its longest words are built from Greek and Latin parts, so a word like "sesquipedalian" (meaning given to using long words) can be pulled apart into pieces that each mean something. Once you know a few of those pieces, unfamiliar words start to look less like walls and more like puzzles.

People mark the day in easy ways. Some pick one impressive word and try to use it naturally in conversation, which is harder than it sounds. Teachers sometimes turn it into a vocabulary game. Others simply open a dictionary at random and read until something unexpected turns up, such as "defenestration," the act of throwing something out of a window.

There is a quiet pleasure in a word that fits exactly. A long word earns its length when it says in one breath what would otherwise take a sentence, and "onomatopoeia" does that job for every buzz, hiss and clang.

Saying these words slowly helps. Break them into syllables, find the stress, and try again. "Antidisestablishmentarianism" gets far more manageable after the third attempt.

Ways to celebrate

• Look up one long word and use it in conversation today.
• Open a dictionary to a random page and read a few entries.
• Break a long word into its Greek or Latin parts.
• Share your favorite big word with a friend or family member.
• Try saying antidisestablishmentarianism slowly, then at normal speed.

Dates

All national days on April 21

Also on April 21

• National Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day
• National Banana Day
• National Chickpea Day
• National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day
• Administrative Professionals Day
• National Kindergarten Day
• San Jacinto Day

Categories: Fun days