• Premier League

Rio bottom in vocab study

ESPNsoccernet staff
June 8, 2011
88% of Rio Ferdinand's words were 'basic' © PA Photos
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An analysis of footballers' vocabulary on social networking site Twitter has shown Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand to have an overwhelmingly 'basic' command of the English language.

Ferdinand, who has led the way for footballers on Twitter under the name @rioferdy5 and recently engaged in a war of words with Daily Mirror journalist Oliver Holt, has been criticised by former News of the World editor Piers Morgan for his poor spelling and grammar.

And now, a Google study has revealed that 88% of Ferdinand's words were "basic" while 11% were "intermediate".

Other players to have been tested fared better, with Ferdinand's United team-mate Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) surprisingly articulate, with 43% basic and 56% intermediate.

Everton skipper Phil Neville had the most expansive vocabulary among his peers, using 59% intermediate words mixed with 40% basic.

However, none of the footballers in the study used more than 1% in advanced words.

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