202
xkcd #3126: Disclaimer
(imgs.xkcd.com)
Title text:
You say no human would reply to a forum thread about Tom Bombadil by writing and editing hundreds of words of text, complete with formatting, fancy punctuation, and two separate uses of the word 'delve'. Unfortunately for both of us, you are wrong.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3126/
Since you're a polysyllabic person, can you explain why the word "monosyllabic" has five syllables?
Information entropy. You need roughly as many syllables to explain the same concept with mono- or disyllabic English words as you do with a scientific polysyllable. Admittedly, some of it is "I know this word! See how smart I am!", but another part is how much more fluid it is to say. "Monosyllabic" rolls off the tongue a lot more easily than "having only one sound".
(The funny answer here would have been "No.")
On top of all that, monosyllabic is accurate to the intended meaning while "having only one sound" is not: a single syllable word often comprises multiple phones and/or phonemes.
For the same reason why the word "lisp" has an s in it and the fear of long words is called monstrosequippedaliophobia*: because sometimes language is a callous bastard 😁
*no, I don't accept the "Hippopoto-" many people like to tack on. Unlike the rest of the word, which describes EXACTLY what the word means, adding a large semi-aquatic mammal serves no purpose other than lengthening an already monstrously equipped dalio.