'Nincompoop' is Britain's favorite word

LONDON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A British survey has found "nincompoop" to be the nation's favorite word of the 16,500 entries in the Cambridge Dictionary.

The survey of more than 2,000 Britons found 13 percent of respondents chose "nincompoop" -- which likely derived from the Latin "non compos mentis," which means someone not of a sound mind -- as their favorite sounding English word, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.

The poll, commissioned by Ubisoft, makers of the language computer game "My Word Search," found "love" was the second most popular word among those polled and "mum" was third.

"The results demonstrate our passion for language and the sentiment we attach to words such as love and mum," Ubisoft spokesman Mike Masuku said. "It also highlights how narrow most people's vocabulary has become."

"Gaming offers a fun way to learn," he said. "Users of every age can benefit from learning new words and their meanings without feeling they are being preached to or patronized."