The Oxford English Dictionary has new last entry on the final page of the ‘Z’ chapter. As Office nerds, we immediately went to see how Microsoft Office handles this obscure word and its predecessor. Turns out Office handles the ‘last word’ very well.
The new last entry is
Zyzzyva (“zih-zih-vah”)
which replaced the previous finalist.
Zythum
Spelling
Microsoft Word 2016 for Windows recognizes both words! No red squiggly for either.
Word doesn’t suggest any synonyms which is understandable once you know the meanings.
Smart Lookup
Right-click in Word 2016 and choose ‘Smart Lookup’. A pane will open with some selected web search results.
ZYZZYVA
You get a Wikipedia entry and even a photo of the little critter.
ZYTHUM
I’m sure everyone knows Zythum is an ancient Egyptian beer.
Speech
Next test is the Office ‘Speak’ feature. Can Office properly pronounce these unusual words?
To try it out, select the word then click the Speak button. ‘Speak’ is hidden but can be added to the Quick Access Toolbar via the ‘Commands not in the ribbon’ list.
Word did OK with both words. In particular ‘Zyzzyva’ was spoken clearly.
Full marks to Microsoft Office!
