Mother's the word
(CNN) -- Long a favorite of burly tattoo wearers, "mother" really is the word when it comes to beauty, an international survey has found.
The British Council -- an agency set up to teach the English language and promote British culture -- quizzed 40,000 non English-speakers around the globe, what they thought the most beautiful word in the English language was.
From a list of 70 words, mother emerged as favorite, followed by passion, smile, love and eternity. Also popular were fantastic, destiny, freedom, liberty and tranquility.
But the survey was bad news for dads, with "father" not figuring among the top contenders.
Others that made the grade included peace (11), lollipop (42), flip-flop (59), hen night (70) and banana (41), along with twinkle (23), hiccup (63), hodgepodge (64) and whoops (56).
"It's interesting that mother, the only word of the 70 that describes a direct relationship between people, came top of the poll," British Council spokesman Greg Selby said.
"It is great to see words in the survey that are so positive and suggestive of the British Council's purpose -- words such as freedom, liberty, peace, renaissance and destiny," he said.
"These chime with our aim to help millions of people worldwide access opportunity through English, and promote stronger ties and improved perceptions of the UK."
The survey was conducted to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the British Council.
The council teaches English to more than half a million people a year.
