Nincompoop!

Strangely nincompoop has been named as Britain's favourite word and my instant reaction is... ??? Has anyone ever actually used that word in normal conversation? Maybe you have if you are over 80 years old and a former RAF officer or headmaster. Apparently the quirky insult, first coined in the 17th century to describe a silly or foolish person, beat off competition from more than 600,000 other English words. Who takes part in these surveys? The word gained 13% of the vote in the survey by the makers of the new language game My Word Coach. Here is the top ten in full.

1. Nincompoop
2. Love
3. Mum
4. Discombobulated
5. Excellent
6. Happy
7. Squishy
8. Fabulous
9. Cool
10. Onomatopoeia