Interesting Facts

Before you shoot me down in flames and say that < 3  is not a word, read this:- The heart emoji "< 3" has been chosen as the word of the year in the 15th annual survey of the English language by the Global Language Monitor. (If  you are new to these emoji or emoticons, each emoji represents an emotion, expression, state of mind, person, place, or thing.  There are now some 722 characters, with another 250 being made available in 2016, and 37 more due for approval in June 2015. Social media and the internet is driving the emoji language forward, with symbols like hashtag #, photobomb - gatecrashing a selfie, bae - a term of endearment for one’s object of desire, “bash” tag - using a hashtag to undermine your frenemies and clickbait - a link you just have to click on - all making it into the top 10 words. On a sad note, the world’s top phrase was “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” chanted by demonstrators against the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Fergus...

According to figures, from the Office for National Statistics’ the number of married couples with 1 child grew from 37 per cent to 40 per cent from 2003 to 2013. (A sociologist at Kent University, Professor Frank Furedi, has worked out that if this trend continues, by 2022 half of families in the UK will only have 1 child.)

On average, New Year's resolutions only last 23 days. (According to a study carried out by the University of Hertfordshire most of us scrap any good intentions as early as January 23rd. Only 30 per cent of women in the UK stuck to their guns, compared with 37 per cent of men. Of course, it depends on the resolution.)

According to a report by Ofcom, half of all UK teenagers own smartphones. (Yes, the Communications Market 2011 report from Ofcom shows that that smartphone ownership is still on the rise and that teenagers are obsessed with their phones. The report findings show that teenagers are much more likely to own a smartphone than adults and are more obsessed with them. 48 per cent of teenagers own a smartphone compared to just 27 per cent of adults. 60% of teenagers who owned a smartphone described themselves as “highly addicted” to their handsets. Only 37 per cent of adults felt that way. I'm really glad I'm not a teenager any more.)