The hidden language of Sussex children has been revealed – and the word ninja has come out on top.

An analysis of short stories submitted by children in the county threw up some surprising results on their use of the English language.

The most popular word was ninja followed by jam, spin, pencil and mirror.

The other favourites included finger, supermarket, cub, gently and shell.

The results came from a report by the Oxford University Press, which analysed 74,075 entries into the short story competition run by the BBC on Chris Evans’s Radio 2 breakfast show.

Former headteacher Dr Stuart Newton, of Peacehaven, said whilst the number of entries was “immensely encouraging” he doubted whether children from deprived areas would have entered.

He said: “Clearly ninja is a word with implications of violence, but the other words in the Sussex top-ten seem to have gentle or neutral associations. Doubtless, if Sussex children lived in an atmosphere of violence they would choose something rather more vicious than ‘ninja’.

“There are too many children in Britain who are subjected daily to violence both inside and outside their homes. I do not imagine that many of them will have submitted entries in this competition. If they had we might then discover some facts and attitudes that ought to make us very worried.

Celebrity culture “It is unsurprising that the use of the apostrophe is chaotic – not least because so many adults cannot grasp the rules.”

The results also exposed the effects of celebrity culture on children’s imaginations.

The most named celebrity was Chris Evans, followed by children’s writer Jacqueline Wilson, and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi, who featured higher than Princes William and Harry, Wayne Rooney, and David Beckham.

Justin Bieber, Jessie J, Simon Cowell, Jeremy Clarkson, and President Obama also featured heavily.

Chris Evans said: “These results are absolutely fascinating. It’s given us a truly unique insight into how children think and the language they use. Who’d have thought that Messi and Jeremy Clarkson would be some of the most used celebrity names? It certainly makes for an interesting read.”

Text speak was not widely used but the misuse of apostrophes was found to be a common problem.

Other notable finds included the rise of technological terms such as Google and app. But the traditional bond between children and their pets was still prevalent with dogs, cats, rabbits and hamsters at the top of the list of most mentioned animals.

Samantha Armstrong, of Oxford University Press, Children’s Dictionaries, said: “I love new words like takeovertheworldinator, telepaper, galactagraph, teacher|bot, and chocolateosaurus.

“Language is evolving and children are real language innovators,” she added.