Sunday, October 24, 2010

70 Best Loved Words...

Mother's the word


Think about the word mother: does it make you burst into a fantastic smile as you think of the woman you will love with a passion for all eternity, she who guides your destiny towards freedom, liberty and perhaps tranquility?

If your answer is yes, you will have embraced your mum and the 10 English words that came top in a survey of favourites conducted by the British Council.
You may, on the other hand, reply: "Oi! I am flabbergasted that such a loquacious, hilarious and far from gorgeous explosion of nouns and adjectives should have been plucked from serendipity under the umbrella of so cosmopolitan and sophisticated an organisation." In which case, you will have clocked up 10 more words from the list of 70 gathered to mark the council's 70th birthday. You can use up eight more by pulling on your flip-flop, reaching for your coconut and riding with a giggle over the rainbow on your cute kangaroo to your hen night before you turn into a pumpkin.
The wordlist, which contains only one verb (cherish) which is not also a noun, emerged after the council asked more than 7,000 learners in 46 countries what they considered the most beautiful words in English language. Some 35,000 other people registered their favourites in an online poll run in the non-English speaking countries where the council operates.
"It's interesting that mother, the only word of the 70 that describes a direct relationship between people, came top of the poll," said Greg Selby, the council's communications and marketing officer, who managed the project.
The magnificent 70
1 Mother

2 Passion

3 Smile

4 Love

5 Eternity

6 Fantastic

7 Destiny

8 Freedom

9 Liberty

10 Tranquillity

11 Peace

12 Blossom

13 Sunshine

14 Sweetheart

15 Gorgeous

16 Cherish

17 Enthusiasm

18 Hope

19 Grace

20 Rainbow

21 Blue

22 Sunflower

23 Twinkle

24 Serendipity

25 Bliss

26 Lullaby

27 Sophisticated

28 Renaissance

29 Cute

30 Cosy

31 Butterfly

32 Galaxy

33 Hilarious

34 Moment

35 Extravaganza

36 Aqua

37 Sentiment

38 Cosmopolitan

39 Bubble

40 Pumpkin

41 Banana

42 Lollipop

43 If

44 Bumblebee

45 Giggle

46 Paradox

47 Delicacy

48 Peekaboo

49 Umbrella

50 Kangaroo

51 Flabbergasted

52 Hippopotamus

53 Gothic

54 Coconut

55 Smashing

56 Whoops

57 Tickle

58 Loquacious

59 Flip-flop

60 Smithereens

61 Oi

62 Gazebo

63 Hiccup

64 Hodgepodge

65 Shipshape

66 Explosion

67 Fuselage

68 Zing

69 Gum

70 Hen night

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/nov/25/books.britishidentity