In the news: the fate of German’s longest word

A cow, by Roland Darré / Wikimedia Commons

“The German language has lost its longest word thanks to a change in the law to conform with EU regulations. Rindfleischetikettierungsueberwachungsaufgabenuebertragungsgesetz – meaning “law delegating beef label monitoring” – was introduced in 1999 in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It was repealed following changes to EU regulations on the testing of cattle.” The BBC has the full story (including the name of these very long words that are so common in German …).

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