Petition to revive nature’s words

A petition has been launched to reinstate words such as “acorn”, “buttercup” and “conker” to the Oxford Junior Dictionary.

The Change.org campaign urges Oxford University Press to reverse their 2008 decision to drop dozens of nature’s words from the dictionary.

Terry Jackson, an artist from Watlington in Oxfordshire, created the petition, and said: “By removing many words to do with nature from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, children will, rather than caring for the Earth and everything on it, be more insular and lead less healthy lives.”

She added: “The research evidence showing that the links between natural play and well-being; and between disconnection from nature and social ills, is mounting.”

In less than a week, the campaign has already attracted more than 17,000 signatures and hundreds of supportive comments.