Trump named as Word Of The Year after children´s short story contest analysed
Trump has been crowned Children’s Word Of The Year following new analysis on language used by young people.
References to US president Donald Trump, as well as elections, Pokemon GO and the fidget spinner, dominated stories penned by children.
Experts at Oxford University Press analysed 131,798 “inventive, funny and politically astute short stories” submitted to a competition run with Chris Evans’ Radio 2 breakfast show.
The word Trump appeared 2,296 times in the stories, a rise of 839% since 2016 – and is also used as a verb.
Children also used Trump as a verb (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Children also used the noun to invent new character names including Boggle Trump and Snozzle Trump.
Other words include superhero, Brexit, fake news and acronyms such as OMG and LOL.
Broadcaster Evans said the research was a “fascinating insight into the minds of children today.
“This year’s analysis reveals just how tuned in they are to what’s going on in the world.
“It’s so inspiring to see how they use language so creatively, having fun with words, using humour and bringing them to life through their wonderfully unconstrained imaginations,” he said.
Children sent stories to Chris Evans' Radio 2 breakfast show (Andrew Matthews/PA)
The six winning stories of the 500 Words competition will be announced on-air on Radio 2 by celebrity narrators including actress Noma Dumezweni and actor Sir Derek Jacobi, with music from Niall Horan and Olly Murs.
The Duchess of Cornwall is attending the live final on Friday.