Nincompoop Is Britain's Favourite Word
"Nincompoop" is Britain's favourite word, according to a new survey. More than 2,000 people were asked to select their favourite from a shortlist chosen from the 16,500 words in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Results show that 13 per cent of respondents chose "nincompoop" which is believed to be derived from the Latin "non compos mentis", meaning not of sound mind. The poll was commissioned by Ubisoft, makers of the language computer game My Word Search. The second most popular word was "love" and the third was "mum".
FOOTNOTE: Stiff upper clip.
18 comments:
ouch Wow love came in second . Go figure...
And all this time I thought nincompoop was a Southern term. This was interesting...
I stopped to let you know that I nominated you for The Shameless Lions Writing Circle Award, on A Nice Place In The Sun. I hope you're having a nice week-end. Congrats!
Hi Ibeati,
I'm surprised thta an epithet was voted more popular than ``love'', the emotion that conquers all.
Keep smiling
David
Hi Ann,
Is it popular in the South? It must be a universal word I guess.
You nominated me for an award? Why, thank you kindly, ma'am.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and I'll be round at your site in the next 10 seconds to thank you properly.
Keep smiling
David
Thats interesting David, any idea where poop-a-scoop came?? hehe.
Its a pain -but my next post has just gone up:)
My favorite is Peace.. doubt that hit the top ten..lol..
I wonder where Groovy came in?
interesting post David.. OH, BTW, about 10 of us are a few days from completing our first drafts of our books..
PEace and light, Kai
Hi Stuart,
Will visit your lively blog shortly. Always a pleasure to see what you've posted.
Not sure about ``pooper scooper'' but watch this space for the origin of the word ``dashboard''!
Cheers
David
Hi Kai,
As you've seen from my email, that is wonderful news. Completion is such a great achievement for any author.
If there's anything I can do to help, you know where to find me!
Cheers
David
I wasn't aware nincompoop was used so much. My dad used to say it a lot. I would think wanker was more popular - it's certainly used a lot more in British films.
Nincompoop... the sound of it just makes me laugh.
Did supercalifragilisticexpialidocious make the list?
That's a rather sad commentary on the state of the world today, isn't it? Funny though.
I love my mum...even though sometimes she thinks I am a nincompoop...
One could say that putting nincompoop before love, shows a deficiency in judgment and good sense. *grin*
In the other hand, I am rather fond of nincompoop myself. Love the sound of it, although I'd never use it to describe a person, but the action.
I didn't know that the British were so fond of it, I thought it was an East Coast usance.
I was under the impression it was Bollocks the most used oe?
So, you're saying there are a lot of people in Britain who are talking about being "Nincompoops who really love their mum"???
Nincompoop. Kinda sounds like what it means.
Nincompoop...........yes, sounds very southern!
Up North we'd probably have another word, but not fit for publication!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
good title for my novel!
LOL!
Yes, nincompoop.
It has a nice ring to it.
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