New Delhi, Feb. 28 -- Few words in English capture as much joy and curiosity as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Long, playful and musical in sound, the word is widely recognised even by people who find it difficult to spell or pronounce. Over the decades, it has become more than just a novelty term, standing as a symbol of creativity in language.

The word is most famously linked to the 1964 musical film Mary Poppins, which featured a lively song and dance built around the term. However, similar playful forms of the word appeared earlier, in the 1930s and 1940s, in songs and experimental language use.

Unlike many long English words, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious does not come from classical Latin or Greek roots. Instead, it was ...