Do you know a nincompoop from a wally?

If you tell a drunk youngster they’re ‘sozzled’ and get a puzzled look, refrain from calling them a ‘wally’ or a ‘nincompoop’.

They probably won’t have a clue what any of those words mean.

In fact they might think you’re talking ‘balderdash’, except they probably wouldn’t call it that… as it’s yet another expression many young Britons wouldn’t recognise.

Some 2,000 adults were given a list of words and asked which ones they had never heard before for a survey. 

It found that 40 per cent of those aged 18 to 30 did not know what ‘sozzled’ meant. 

‘Wally’ was not know by 36 per cent of young people, while ‘nincompoop’ fell outside the vocabulary of 28 per cent of respondents.

The survey by research firm Perspectus Global found 37 per cent of this age group did not know that ‘bonk’ was slang for sex or that a ‘cad’ was a dishonourable man.

Bestselling author Jilly Cooper – famed for her ‘bonkbusters’ – told The Times she feared ‘plonk’, or wine, would also soon be forgotten. 

The survey, which was carried out by the research firm Perspectus Global, saw some 2,000 adults given a list of words and asked which ones they had never heard before. (Stock image)

The 83-year-old said: ‘The words bonk and plonk describe two of the loveliest activities in the world. Let’s make sure we carry on using them both.’  

She added that she would write a ‘plonkbuster called Sozzled’ to ensure the word stay in common usage.

Around three in ten (32 per cent) of over 50s in the UK feel it is sad some of these words are dying out.