A to Z Challenge post - L is for one of the longest words in the world and Lucky Number Slevin

Holy cow, do I have a word for you today! It is: Lopado­temacho­selacho­galeo­kranio­leipsano­drim­hypo­trimmato­silphio­parao­melito­katakechy­meno­kichl­epi­kossypho­phatto­perister­alektryon­opte­kephallio­kigklo­peleio­lagoio­siraio­baphe­tragano­pterygon. And you will never guess what it means. It is a fictional dish mentioned in Aristophane's comedy Assemblywomen (a play from 391BC). This word has been translated to mean "name of a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, flesh, fowl, and sauces". The original Greek word has 171 letters and is listed in the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest word ever to appear in literature.

When you think, as I did, why the heck didn't he just say what the dish was instead of this monster of a word, maybe this is why: In an English prose translation by Leo Strauss (1966), this Greek word is rendered as "oysters-saltfish-skate-sharks'-heads-left-over-vinegar-dressing-laserpitium-leek-with-honey-sauce-thrush-blackbird-pigeon-dove-roast-cock's-brains-wagtail-cushat-hare-stewed-in-new-wine-gristle-of-veal-pullet's-wings".

Ah.

I think the original word is more appetizing. You pretty much lost me at oysters, but the shark's heads and roast cock's brains really did me in (not to mention gristle of veal). Yuck.

I think I'll move swiftly along to today's film choice.

Today's film is: Lucky Number Slevin. This 2006 film stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci, and Josh Hartnett. I could not describe the storyline any better than how it is stated on IMBd, so here it is: "In an airport waiting room, a man in a wheelchair tells a stranger a story about a fixed horse race in 1979 that resulted in a family's deaths. In Manhattan, two bookies and the son of a Mob boss die. A young man just out of the shower answers the door to a neighbor woman and explains that he's visiting, has had a bad week, including being mugged, and doesn't know where his pal, who lives there, is. The neighbor is chatty; she's a coroner. Two thugs arrive and, believing the visitor to be the guy who lives there, take him to see the boss with the dead son, who tells him to kill the son of his Mob rival. Mistaken identity? What connects the threads? Cops are watching."

This is another film that I love, love, love. Get your snacks together, go to the bathroom, turn off your phone - you need to pay attention to this movie or you aren't going to get it. This plot has more twists and turns than the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland. The film won four 2006 Milano International Film Festival (MIFF) awards: Best Film, Best Actor (Josh Hartnett), Best Editing, and Audience Award (Best Film). There is liberal use of the F-word (of course), so just a warning there.

Well, this post is late, but it is still on Tuesday! At least here in Washington state, anyway. Hope you are still enjoying the challenge, and I'll have another post for you tomorrow. TTFN!