# hottentottententententoonstelling



## Florence2005

Can you please tell me in English what this Dutch word means?

hottentotententententoonstelling

Thank you very much.


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## Sowka

Hello Florence 

this seems to be a word that you are supposed to speak very quickly to get confused.. It means "Hottentot tent exhibition" 

I don't know any Dutch yet, but by St. Google, I found this source: Hospitality Club, which includes the posting: 
"hi,

In Dutch it is 

hottentotententententoonstelling 

it means

hottentots tents exhibition"


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## Hitchhiker

Years ago when I first started studying Dutch this word was said to be one of the longest Dutch words. It's just a made up word meant to be long. I've never heard anything about saying it quickly. I don't think it's suppose to be funny sounding, just very long with many letters.


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## Frank06

Hi,


Hitchhiker said:


> Years ago when I first started studying Dutch this word was said to be one of the longest Dutch words. It's just a made up word meant to be long. I've never heard anything about saying it quickly. I don't think it's suppose to be funny sounding, just very long with many letters.


Yeah, indeed . When I was a kid, I often heard (and read), that this was 'the longest word' in Dutch. I guess this word is indeed only mentioned in the context of 'long words'.
I agree with Hitchhiker: I never came across it in the context of 'funny sounding words'. In written form, it's kind of fun to see more or less five times the sequence 'tent'.

As for _the_ longest Dutch word: I think that's a bit pointless. On the one hand, it's very easy to make compound words in Dutch. I often use the silly 'formula' in class 1+1=1 (one word plus one word equals one word), but this also goes for 1+1+1(+1+1+...)=1. So, theoretically, it should be possible to come up with a word of 100+ letters. But then we enter the (nice and funny) realm of the so-called 'spookwoorden' and 'fanatasy words'.

On the other hand, this is hardly done. I think the limit in practice is more or less 3, 4 words, depending on how you count. Words like 
aandeelhoudersvergadering, luchtvaartmaatschappijen, telecommunicatiebedrijven aren't that uncommon. You could add an extra word to all of these and still have a transparent compound, but I guess that's crossing a line.

The last edition of the Van Dale dictionary has meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornis, which allegedly is the longest word in the book (didn't check it .

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Sonex

It's just a tongue twister you know, we don't use that for real


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## Florence2005

THANKS everybody!!! That is what I thought. It was just a Dutch friend of mine playing tricks on me...


Thank you all.


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## rivkaopreis

Hahaha, to make it even worse, when I was a kid I was taught hottentottentweepersoonstentententoonstellingsterreinen! Literally the grounds where the Hottentot double tents exhibition is being held... Complete nonsense of course but still quite funny...


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## moenbase

Yea it's a pretty common tongue twister.


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## ciao amore

*No, it's not the longest word in Dutch. It just consists of 33 letters if I'm not mistaken. The longest word in Dutch consisting of 49 letters is;*


*kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamheden*

*-children carnival parade-preparations*

*-the parade-preparations about the children carnival*


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## Frank06

Hi,


ciao amore said:


> *No, it's not the longest word in Dutch. It just consists of 33 letters if I'm not mistaken. The longest word in Dutch consisting of 49 letters is;*
> *kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamheden*


If I am not wrong, this word is (or was once) mentioned in the Duch version of the Guiness Book of Records as "the longest Dutch word". 

But as mentioned in post #4, it's really pointless to seriously come up with "the longest Dutch word". In theory, there are no limits. 
In practice, a compound of more than 4/5 "words" (depending on what and how you count) is rarely used in Dutch. There are no fixed criteria. 
Once you cross a vague border, it's "complete nonsense", as Rivkaopreis put it while talking about "hottentottentweepersoonstentententoonstellingsterreinen" (56) (or, if you want: hottentottentweepersoonstentententoonstellingsterreinwagens (60), a word which can be made longer). 

*But,* as Rika said, it's also "quite funny". Making this kind of long words is just an entertaining word game.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## ciao amore

Frank06 said:


> Hi,
> 
> If I am not wrong, this word is (or was once) mentioned in the Duch version of the Guiness Book of Records as "the longest Dutch word".
> 
> But as mentioned in post #4, it's really pointless to seriously come up with "the longest Dutch word". In theory, there are no limits.
> In practice, a compound of more than 4/5 "words" (depending on what and how you count) is rarely used in Dutch. There are no fixed criteria.
> Once you cross a vague border, it's "complete nonsense", as Rivkaopreis put it while talking about "hottentottentweepersoonstentententoonstellingsterreinen" (56) (or, if you want: hottentottentweepersoonstentententoonstellingsterreinwagens (60), a word which can be made longer).
> 
> *But,* as Rika said, it's also "quite funny". Making this kind of long words is just an entertaining word game.
> 
> Groetjes,
> 
> Frank


 
*You're absolutely right, no limits can be put up, yet what I want to mean is that the meaning unity will dissolve gradually, if we add more words or affix, prefix or an infix. For instance, in accordance with the Guiness Book of Records, the longest word that has been created so far is in Swedish;*

*"nordöstersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranlaggningsmaterielunderhallsuppföljningssystemdiskussionsinlaggsförberedelsearbaten" *

*"north east lake tilleriflyg's paning's simulator facility's equipment in the hall suppföljning's discussion system's speech's preparation's work" **


*or in Dutch;*

*"Noord-oost meer tilleriflyg's paning de simulator inrichting apparatuur in de zaal suppföljning de discussie systeem de toespraak van de voorbereiding van de werkzaamheden" **



** Thanks to here .  *


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## Frank06

Hi,


ciao amore said:


> in accordance with the Guiness Book of Records


And that is exactly the problem.

Frank


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## Meiseke

I think the idea is the repetition of the 'ten' letter combination, especially where it occurs one after another.  I was  taught as a child it was hottentotten*soldaten*tentententoonstelling.


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## Albert the nut

Florence2005 said:


> Can you please tell me in English what this Dutch word means?
> 
> hottentotententententoonstelling
> 
> Thank you very much.



Very simply: The, ("company" name,) "Hottentoten Tents," tent exhibition. Hopefully this will clarify this mystery. Actually this "word" is simply a fun word used by the Dutch as a tongue twister.


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## Peterdg

Albert the nut said:


> Very simply: The, ("company" name,) "Hottentoten Tents," tent exhibition. Hopefully this will clarify this mystery. Actually this "word" is simply a fun word used by the Dutch as a tongue twister.


Not very simple! "Hottentotten" is not a company name but the Dutch name of a South African tribe (Khoikoi) .


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## petoe

Ik ben op het werk wel al eens in aanraking gekomen met het woord 'humanresourcesmanagementsoftwareprogramma', waarschijnlijk bedacht door een gekke informaticus maar het is wel juist want in mijn Nederlands woordenboek schrijft men humanresourcesmanagement blijkbaar aan elkaar.

Dit doet me trouwens denken aan een filmpje waarin een man gedurende meer dan drie uur een absurd lang woord uitspreekt. Het gaat om de wetenschappelijke naam van een scheikundige stof, ofzo 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFR-ADakI-c


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## Lopes

Is softwareprogramma niet dubbelop? 

Wat is er trouwens mis met het oude vertrouwde 'personeelsbeheer'


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## Udo

Deze voorbeelden van overlange woorden die hierboven zijn aangehaald laten toch duidelijk zien dat er iets aan de bestaande spellingregels *moet worden veranderd*.
De meeste voorbeelden zijn grappig bedoeld maar in het echte leven kom je ook dikwijls dergelijke woorden tegen die ernstig bedoeld zijn. Met die uitdrukkingen op zich is er niets mis mee. Het zijn aparte woorden die samengevoegd worden en nu een nieuw zinsgedeelte vormen (zoals taal nu eenmaal werkt). Alleen dat je ze zonder spaties of streepjes moet opschrijven blijkt dan funest. Als je deze woorden mondeling uitspreekt doe je wel iets om ze van elkaar te scheiden (wat precies dat is weet ik ook niet).
Dat geldt trouwens ook voor het Duits, anders zou ik niet durven over een vreemde taal te zeuren.


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## Udo

Lopes said:


> Is softwareprogramma niet dubbelop?


Nee, ik denk van niet. Het woord "programma" heeft naast software nog een hoop andere betekenissen. Radio-programma, partij-programma, feest-programma, enz.


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## Lopes

Ja, maar software is toch gewoon een ander woord voor computerprogramma.


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