Coronavirus is Oxford Children's Word of the Year following Oxford Press research with Radio 2's 500 Words competition

Coronavirus has been declared this year's Oxford Children's Word of the Year according to research conducted by Oxford University Press.

Previous winners include Brexit in 2019, Plastic in 2018 and Trump in 2017 - indicating, say researchers, that global affairs do influence a child's creativity.

Using entries from this year's Radio 2's 500 Words creative writing competition, staff scoured more than 134,000 stories written by children aged five to 13, to find the overriding themes and words being used by children and teenagers.

Analysis by lexicographers at Oxford University Press, part of the University of Oxford, has revealed, say those behind the project, 'fascinating data and discoveries' about how children use language to express themselves.

Describing this years entries as having a 'somewhat apocalyptic feel' - the spread of coronavirus featured in many children's stories alongside the bush fires of Australia and the ongoing fears of the effects of climate change.

The word 'coronavirus' was used frequently hundreds of times, guaranteeing it the top spot this year, with Wuhan and Covid-19 also featuring among the totals in stories, which were submitted at the end of February when the pandemic across Europe was only just emerging and schools were still weeks away from being closed in the UK.

Words associated with the virus also increased in frequency, including NHS, virus, antibodies, epidemic, and lockdown.

Helen Freeman, Director, Oxford Children’s Dictionaries & Language Data at Oxford University Press says: “Once again, the analysis of the children’s writing has revealed how tuned in young people are to global events and how real-world events can inspire such a variety of stories and writing styles, from apocalyptic science fiction, to fairy tales, and humour."

Whilst 2018's Word of the Year 'plastic' continues to feature in children's storytelling - with mentions increasing 32% since last year alone whilst phrases such as global warming, save the planet and climate change also jumped in use by 126%, 156%, and a staggering 839% respectively.

Other favourite words amongst the stories entered by boys include Xbox, Call of Duty, Fortnite and Minecraft whilst amongst budding young female writers social media mentions for TikTok and YouTube are on the rise.

The winners of the BBC creative writing competition will be announced this Friday live on Radio 2.

Zoe Ball, Radio 2 Breakfast show presenter said: “The OUP’s analysis is so fascinating. Revealing, to no surprise, that kids are so aware of everything that’s going on in the world around them and then are able to turn it into the most brilliant, engaging and imaginative stories!”

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