Helen Freeman

" Queen " has taken The Top spot in a vote to find UK Children 's word of The year for 2022.

It was followed by The Words " happy" and " Chaos ".

Asked about The Word Queen , many of The six to 14 year-olds described feelings of sadness and loss, as well as pride for The monarch who died in September.

Some 4,000 Children took part in A Survey , conducted by Oxford University Press (OUP), to find words they felt had been important during The year.

Based on The Top themes that emerged, Three Words - Queen , happy and Chaos - were shortlisted.

A separate poll of a further 1,000 Children by Opinium was then carried out to choose The Word of The year from The Shortlist .

A report by OUP, which publishes The Oxford English Dictionary, Said many Children expressed feelings of sadness over Queen Elizabeth Ii 's death, but they also felt hopeful and excited about The Coming year.

Director of Oxford Children 's Books, Helen Freeman , Said this year's top pick was no surprise.

" This not only reflects Her Majesty 's 70 years of incredible service, but over The Past decade our research consistently reveals how attuned Children are to The News and The impact Current Affairs have on their language, " she added.

By looking at The Oxford Children 's Corpus, The largest Children 's English Language database, it was found that Queen Elizabeth was often in The Top 10 list of famous people written about by Children .

With events such as The Queen 's Platinum Jubilee and funeral in The Last Year , it was a time her legacy would have been circulated around classrooms.

It was also found that The winning word is being used by Young People to express support for Someone Else , as a compliment.

Examples from The survey include one girl writing: " I always say 'yes Queen ' to every woman/girl I know, I want them to feel empower[e]d. Every woman/girl I know is a Queen in my eyes. "

Rebecca Ashdown, illustrator of Madeleine Cook's book My Granny is a Queen , Said The winning word was a " good choice".

" For me The Word Queen feels like someone with strength, compassion and Wisdom - qualities that never go out of fashion. It's a word of respect, a way to honour a friend or A Family member. "

Meanwhile, The Founder of EmpathyLab - an organisation aiming to show literature's role in building empathy awareness and skills in Children - Said this year's word shows how Children were affected by Current Events .

" We always encourage teachers and parents not to shy away from discussing The News and The empathy issues of The Day , " Said Miranda McKearney.

Runner up happy was often cited as a choice by Children because they felt happy they could return to Normal Life again after The pandemic.

However, Number Three choice Chaos serves as a reminder that The World still is not back to what it once was. Last Year 's winning word was anxiety.

In addition, Children were surveyed this year on popular Slang - with The Words cool, sick and slay Coming Up top.

It was The First Time Children were given The Choice to put forward words to be considered for The vote. Before this year, The Most common words were selected from those used in The Bbc 500 Words Creative Writing competition for Children .

It was also The First year The

Source of news: bbc.com