About to approve your wedding invites? Geordies scored high when tested on the Oxford Dictionary's new words

Getting set to order your wedding stationery and want to make sure your wording's up to speed? With more than 650 new words and phrases added to the Oxford English Dictionary in March 2019, it might be time to figure out how many you actually know the meaning of…

CV writing professionals, Purple CV, wanted to find out how Brits would score when tested on their vocab skills, and jargon in the workplace. They conducted a survey of 3,000 Brits and found that when tested on The Oxford English Dictionary's updated words, they achieved an average score of just 56%!

Perhaps people in the North West of the country should brush up on their vocabulary, as when compared across the UK, it was found that they scored the lowest on average at 50%.

It seems Scots, on the other hand, are more clued up scoring 69% on average.

The good people of Newcastle scored a commendable 58%!

Test your own vocab knowledge using Purple CV's fun, interactive quiz based on the latest additions to the Oxford English Dictionary: https://purplecv.co.uk/blog/140-test-your-vocabulary.html

Purple CV also found that 53% of Brits have admitted to using a word in a sentence without knowing its true meaning - never a good thing when writing your wedding vows or invitations!

On a more uplifting note, however, 47% of respondents are constantly trying to improve and expand their vocabulary, showing a keen willingness to keep up with the times.

The survey also asked British employees about how well they understand industry talk in their workplace. A third admitted to using business jargon in an interview without fully understanding its meaning and half of respondents said they have sat through a work meeting without understanding the business jargon being used.

First impressions are everything, especially when it comes to job interviews. The study found that 77% of managers would be more likely to hire a candidate who uses a wide and varied vocabulary, and 81% of employers say that a job candidate using a word in the wrong sense is unforgivable.

Interestingly, 55% of managers say they dislike slang or abbreviations being used in the workplace.

When broken down by industry, it was found that those in IT seem to know the least, with 68% admitting they don't always know what's cracking in meetings (and who can blame them – hands up if anyone knows what a Recursive Pyramid Algorithm is?!).

Other interesting stats to emerge from the survey include: 64% of people think people who use long, complicated words appear more intelligent. In fact, one-third of single Brits say they would be more attracted to somebody if they had an expansive vocabulary.

Go on – take the test and find out how you rate, then re-read those invites a few more times before approving them with your printer…