Help! What comes last...?

[Wilf]

Take a word, and then write down its letters in alphabetcial order. (eg write -> eirtw). If you were to d this for every word in the English language, and then list the letter combinations alphabtically, what word would end up last?
The best I can come up with is "you" -> 'ouy'. Can anyone come up with one that would come after that?

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[Wilf]

Take a word, and then write down its letters in alphabetcial order. (eg write -> eirtw). If you were to d this for every word in the English language, and then list the letter combinations alphabtically, what word would end up last?
The best I can come up with is "you" -> 'ouy'. Can anyone come up with one that would come after that?

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[papercrane]

'Purr' would be 'prru'...'sup' would be 'psu'...'tut' would be 'ttu'...can't think of anything else at the moment.

The important thing about adventures, thought Mr Bunnsy, was that they shouldn't be so long as to make you miss mealtimes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents)

[Wilf]

Rust -> rstu
Beat that...

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[Kathy Li]

sty = sty
yurt = rtuy
but looks like PPC's still winning with "tut".

[Agent M]

[Gryphon]

And Zebra would be first... LOL. Aberz

Aug! This is hard!!!

Try... rty. Ugg.

-MaThFrEaK
"Hehehe. You smell funny."
"I love fish and chicken and turkey and ham and squirrels and pork and..."
"Izza mousey!"
~Gryphon~

[Wilf]

I think we shoudl outlaw proper nouns - else someone will produce an obscure town. Dictionary words only please. (Otherwise, I would give "Zu" --> 'uz', a Sumerian goddess).
Given how when listing things alphatbetically, the shorter word comes first (eg "walk" before "walked"), then "tutu" --> 'ttuu' comes after "tut" --> 'tt'.

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[Wilf]

"Zuz" --> 'uzz' (An ancient Hebrew silver coin.)

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[Kathy Li]

Agent M: yurt: "a circular domed tent of skins or felt stretched over a collapsible lattice framework and used by pastoral peoples of inner Asia" (according to Webster's)

Not that I ever score well in these kinds of games. I never managed even one for the "name a word that's pronounced differently when capitalized" (e.g., "nice") game.

[papercrane]

M: A yurt is a sort of Mongolian dwelling-thingy, usually rounded and constructed with skins.

The obvious restriction to all of this is that 'u' is the only vowel one can use. Of course, there's 'y', but I can't think of any words that use only a 'y' and letters from v-z. So Wilf's 'uzz' is indeed the ideal word and it's pretty much useless to look for anything else.

The important thing about adventures, thought Mr Bunnsy, was that they shouldn't be so long as to make you miss mealtimes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents)

[Rysade]

hainterj. [echoic] an exclamation variously expressing wonder, surprise, anger, triumph, etc.: repeated (ha-han. the sound of this exclamation or of a laugh
-Webster's Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition

[Wilf]

Personally, I think "Zuz" shouldn't count, it is not an English word.

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[papercrane]

Well, it's currency...currency is allowed in Scrabble, so why not here?

The important thing about adventures, thought Mr Bunnsy, was that they shouldn't be so long as to make you miss mealtimes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents)