The word is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz "beef-labelling monitoring assessment assignment law" and according to this article, Brussels has decreed that this word no longer exists. It has ceased to be. Bereft of life, etc. I had no idea that Brussels could kill words like that.

Rind - cow
Fleish - meat
Etikettierung - labeling
Überwachung - monitoring
Aufgaben - assignment
Übertragung - transfer
Gesetz - law

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goofy,

Gotta love those German words!

We surely can't kill words like that.

I liked this one: floccinaucinihilipilification (“the action or habit of estimating as worthless”)

Well, antidisestablishmentarianism is no longer an issue in England (although disestablishment of the Church of England still gets a mention every now and then) but the word still exists, even if it's only used as an example of sesquipedalian loquaciousness.

In the same way, simply ditching the law doesn't mean that the word relating to it disappears. America repealed Prohibition in 1933 but the word remains.

On a related note, but not specifically on topic, I was looking for a new Gmail tagline today and found this page of German words. I rather liked Verbesserungsvorschlagsversammlung, which means a gathering of suggestions for improvement, but it was too long. Instead I chose Umweltverschmutzung ("the dirtying up of the world") because it was a great translation for "pollution."