If your answer is yes, you will have embraced your mum and the 10 English words that came top in a survey of favourites conducted by the British Council.

You may, on the other hand, reply: "Oi! I am flabbergasted that such a loquacious, hilarious and far from gorgeous explosion of nouns and adjectives should have been plucked from serendipity under the umbrella of so cosmopolitan and sophisticated an organisation." In which case, you will have clocked up 10 more words from the list of 70 gathered to mark the council's 70th birthday. You can use up eight more by pulling on your flip-flop, reaching for your coconut and riding with a giggle over the rainbow on your cute kangaroo to your hen night before you turn into a pumpkin.

The wordlist, which contains only one verb (cherish) which is not also a noun, emerged after the council asked more than 7,000 learners in 46 countries what they considered the most beautiful words in English language. Some 35,000 other people registered their favourites in an online poll run in the non-English speaking countries where the council operates.

"It's interesting that mother, the only word of the 70 that describes a direct relationship between people, came top of the poll," said Greg Selby, the council's communications and marketing officer, who managed the project.

The magnificent 70

1 Mother 
2 Passion 
3 Smile 
4 Love 
5 Eternity 
6 Fantastic 
7 Destiny 
8 Freedom 
9 Liberty 
10 Tranquillity 
11 Peace 
12 Blossom 
13 Sunshine 
14 Sweetheart 
15 Gorgeous 
16 Cherish 
17 Enthusiasm 
18 Hope 
19 Grace 
20 Rainbow 
21 Blue 
22 Sunflower 
23 Twinkle 
24 Serendipity 
25 Bliss 
26 Lullaby 
27 Sophisticated 
28 Renaissance 
29 Cute 
30 Cosy 
31 Butterfly 
32 Galaxy 
33 Hilarious 
34 Moment 
35 Extravaganza 
36 Aqua 
37 Sentiment 
38 Cosmopolitan 
39 Bubble 
40 Pumpkin 
41 Banana 
42 Lollipop 
43 If 
44 Bumblebee 
45 Giggle 
46 Paradox 
47 Delicacy 
48 Peekaboo 
49 Umbrella 
50 Kangaroo 
51 Flabbergasted 
52 Hippopotamus 
53 Gothic 
54 Coconut 
55 Smashing 
56 Whoops 
57 Tickle 
58 Loquacious 
59 Flip-flop 
60 Smithereens 
61 Oi 
62 Gazebo 
63 Hiccup 
64 Hodgepodge 
65 Shipshape 
66 Explosion 
67 Fuselage 
68 Zing 
69 Gum 
70 Hen night