{"id":55070,"date":"2025-04-27T15:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T15:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/55070\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T15:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T15:26:11","slug":"the-language-map-of-britain-chart-reveals-the-most-popular-words-across-the-uk-including-knob-in-welsh-cheese-in-wiltshire-and-freak-in-essex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/55070\/","title":{"rendered":"The language map of Britain: Chart reveals the most popular words across the UK – including ‘knob’ in Welsh, ‘cheese’ in Wiltshire, and ‘freak’ in Essex"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the UK is only home to around 69 million people, there are dozens of regional languages and dialects spoken across the British Isles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Cornish to Scottish Gaelic, Manx, and Welsh, each region has its own interests, tastes, and obsessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, data published by\u00a0Charles Kemp, a professor in psychology at the University of Melbourne<\/a>, reveals the most popular words in each region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to his research,\u00a0Old English has ‘hedge’ at the top, marking a very long-standing English preoccupation with hedgerows and gardens.<\/p>\n

The Sussex dictionary has more mentions of ‘flint’ than any other word \u2013 perhaps a reference to the important Neolithic flint mines around the county.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And although it may sound like a stereotype, the Scots dictionary has ‘oatmeal’ as its most-mentioned word, reflecting the highland love for the breakfast dish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, several cheekier words have also made the top lists \u2013 including ‘knob’, ‘freak’, and ‘dick’.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, what are the words that appear most in your hometown? Scroll down for the full list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

In MailOnline’s graphic, there are 13 different languages and dialects from places around the British Isles \u2013 such as Cornwall, Devon, Essex, Wales and the Isle of Man.<\/p>\n

Each region dotted around the graphic has five words ranked from one at the top to five at the bottom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For example, in the Republic of Ireland, you will see words including ‘turf’, ‘champion’, ‘cork’, ‘salmon’, ‘generosity’, ‘mop’ and ‘clown’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Professor\u00a0Kemp, these are the words that have the most appearances in the dictionary of the Irish language.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They might appear in the\u00a0definition of that word, or in definitions of other words across the whole of that dictionary \u2013 so any mention across all sections from A-Z.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fact ‘turf’ is the top word here potentially hints at the Irish love for field sports, particularly their native games of Gaelic football and hurling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Scots has a different collection of words ranked from one to five \u2013 with ‘oatmeal’ at the top, which has an impressive 314 mentions across the Scots dictionary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘If “oatmeal” occurs a lot in dictionaries of Scots, that suggests that there are lots of Scots terms related to oatmeal,’ Professor Kemp told MailOnline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"According \"Meanwhile, <\/p>\n

The words on each language\/dialect’s list appear the most times in that dictionary – across all sections from A-Z. Examples are ‘oatmeal’ in Scots and ‘turf’ in Irish<\/p>\n

\"Cheese \"Several <\/p>\n

The research adds to a growing understanding of language, culture, and the way they both relate, according to Professor Kemp and colleagues\u00a0<\/p>\n

Top words from languages around the world\u00a0 <\/p>\n