Here's a couple of possible (but rather wordy) contenders for the accolade of the Nation's Favourite Word.

The London Festival of Literature's Trustee of the Word, Bob Geldof, is keen to find out what your favourite word in the English language is and why - the aim is to build "a sort of cultural and linguistic Doomsday Book for the beginning of the new Millennium". Could be a well-worn piece of training jargon, could be something more decorative - the choice is yours!

A couple of incentives for voting: for the first thousand votes on the website, Bloomsbury will donate £1 to the British Dyslexia Association, and each week all answers will be raffled and the winner will be given an Encarta World English Dictionary to donate to the school of their choice.

You can vote by e-mailing Mr Geldof at [email protected].

The Nation's Favourite Word will be announced on the first day of the Festival at The Globe, Bankside, London on 22 September 2000.