SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The word of the year in Austria has been announced. It's an important word. It's timely. It's a new word, plucked from the headlines surrounding the 350 days it took for Austria to elect a new president. There was a first round in April, a runoff in May annulled because of vote irregularities, then a new date in October postponed because of faulty ballots. The final vote was finally held on December 4. That delay is what this word means. The University of Graz and the Austrian agency polled 10,000 Austrians. This word won. Do you think I'm trying to avoid saying this word? I am. It's got 52 letters and looks like what would happen if your cat walked across the keyboard and hit 52 keys, but never the spacebar. It sounds something like supercalifragilisticexpiali-Deutsches, except it's longer. Nice man at the Austrian Embassy named Julian Steiner pronounced it for us.
JULIAN STEINER: Bundesprasidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung.
SIMON: And bless you, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS")
JULIE ANDREWS: (As Mary Poppins, singing) It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is something quiet atrocious. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.