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BGonline.org Forums
Longest word from top row of keyboard -- ANSWER
Posted By: nack ballard In Response To: what is copyrightable? (nack ballard)
Date: Tuesday, 18 April 2017, at 5:04 p.m.
What is the longest English word that can be typed using only the top row of a standard keyboard (qwertyuiop)?
Sorry I didn't wait 24 hours before following up, but I'm not sure when I'll be logging in again.
When I was a kid, many people told me with authority (though that doesn't mean it didn't ultimately come from one source) that "typewriter" is the longest word typeable on the top row of a typewriter (essentially covering the set of characters on what we now refer to as a "keyboard" in the computer age), and there was no talk of it being tied for length with other words. This alleged fact seems to have become almost legend, though evidently not common legend (based on response).Indeed, "typewriter" was Stick's answer, but he cleverly hid it in plain sight, so nobody would notice. ("Using a standard keyboard or a standard typewriter?")
Ray Kershaw's answer of "qwertyuiop" is tied. I did intend to include British English in the question, which I hope just might cause other people to find longer words I don't know.
(To Casper's question, I'm pretty sure "qwertyuiop" is unacceptable in American Scrabble, but I would guess it is acceptable in British Scrabble, though I haven't properly researched it. I memorized countless peculiar words equal to or fewer than eight letters in length, but relatively few longer ones as they so rarely arise in Scrabble.)
Altogether, I count a dozen qualifying ten-letter words, my favorites among them being "tetterwort" and "pepperroot," which use only five keys! Here are the rest of the ten-letter words (in alphabetical order):
pepperwort, pewterwort, pirouetter, prerequire, pretorture, proprietor, repertoire, repetitory
There is one eleven-letter word that beats them all, however, which is
Rupturewort is a plant. The parts that grow above the ground are used to make medicine. People take rupturewort to treat urinary tract disorders, lung problems, nerve pain, gout, arthritis, fluid retention, and muscle and joint pain (rheumatism); and for "purifying the blood."
As far as I know, there is one twelve-letter word and nothing longer. The winner is...
Sorry if the standard answer from four score and seven years ago was more fun.
Nack
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