Mother's the word
David Ward
Thursday November 25, 2004
The Guardian
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
