Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz Cut

“Call it linguistic precision engineering. The German language permits the creation of words of endless length, many of which refer to laws. Now the country has lost its longest official word following the repeal of a complex law regarding mad cow disease — and is seeking a new one.”

— What are the Germans going to do now that ‘Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz’ is no longer an acceptable word? And what did ‘Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz’ even mean? As the article goes on to explain, ‘Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz’ can be loosely translated as ‘the strange condition in which, due to skin tone or softness of features, a person somehow appears to have been Photoshopped into a picture no matter which angle they are photographed from.’ That word has been replaced with the less unwieldy ‘RobFordische,’ necessitating a new longest word. Too bad! ‘Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz’ did have a certain ring to it.

Photo by Bocman1973, via Shutterstock