Grand mountain ranges stretched across the printed page

German's reputation for long words is well-deserved (average word length in English: 8.2 characters, in German: 11.7 characters

http://www.ravi.io/language-word-lengths

English doesn't hesitate to borrow words from another language even if it makes it look fat. From German we have borrowed one-syllable putsch and kitsch, as well as Scrabble-defying gotterdammerung and sprachgefuhl.

 "I would do away with those great long compounded words; or require the speaker to deliver them in sections, with intermissions for refreshments." 
~ Mark Twain 


"... these long things are hardly legitimate words, but are rather combinations of words, and the inventor of them ought to have been killed."
~ Mark Twain