Did you see that item about Germany's longest word?

"A regional parliament in Germany has officially eliminated the need the longest word in the German language – Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, a 63-letter monstrosity pertaining to the the testing and labeling of beef.

Introduced in 1999, Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz was the German term for a “law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling” that worked to make sure ranchers tested healthy cattle for mad cow disease. Lawmakers have decided that the law is no longer needed, and thus the word for the law is leaving with it. While Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz never appeared in any dictionary, the word was used in official documents, and was thus considered by linguists to be the longest word in the German language.

Here's a good article about this and other long words: Daily Telegraph

While you're there, maybe you'd be interested in the link to the 2008 article: Scrabble: 60 facts for its 60th birthday.