Interesting Facts

According to The Wright Stuff 80% of people will use social media to find out more about potential partners. (What do they check? What you post about . . . the quality of the pictures . . . your grammar . . . your teeth and smile . . . and your clothing. According to a survey from Pew Research in 2013 it was just 41%.)

According to a survey by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) 1 in 10 Brits are walking from home - in bed! (19% work from the sofa on their laptop, but now chiropractors are warning against the impact this could be having on the health of their back. Now, as some of you know, I work from home, but I get up and go into the office when I'm running sessions.  PS - I am writing this on the sofa.) The BCA have put together a video on computer posture: http://www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk/For-You-89-Computer-Posture-119-ms.aspx

According to a survey commissioned by Nationwide Credit Cards, the 1970s was the most tasteless decade when it comes to home decor in the UK. #TBT to when avocado bathrooms were in. Seriously, who thought that was a good look?! pic.twitter.com/liz1dJVtK8 — WICKES (@Wickes) January 29, 2015 (Lava lamps, orange and purple decor, tartan upholstery, shagpile rugs, avocado bathrooms and woodchip wallpaper all contributed to make the 70s so unstylish, but the 1980s, with its textured ceilings, frills and flounces, and Laura Ashley prints came second at 16 per cent. I wonder what they will say about the 2010s?)

A survey conducted by life insurance provider Beagle Street, revealed that young Brits don't feel "adult" until they have reached the age of 29. (Although legally you are regarded as an adult at 18 in the UK, seemingly the average young Brit believes it is another 11 years until they actually reach adulthood. The reasons excuses they give are living at home, playing computer games, watching children's films and a reluctance to settle for a "real job". The top 10 signs of being and adult were considered to be: Buying your first home (64 per cent)   Becoming a parent (63 per cent)   Getting married (52 per cent)   Paying into a pension (29 per cent)   Becoming house proud (22 per cent)   Taking out life insurance (21 per cent)   Looking forward to a night in (21 per cent)   Doing DIY (18 per cent)   Hosting dinner parties (18 per cent)   Having a joint bank account (17 per cent) The top 10 reasons excuses for not feeling like...

According to a survey conducted by OnePoll.com 70% of Brits admit to regularly sending text messages to the wrong person, and over 40% said they had been on the receiving end of a message clearly intended for someone else. (The survey revealed that people are most likely to send emails to the wrong people via text message, followed by desktop email, smartphone email, tablet email and WhatsApp. Some people have even lost their job by accidentally sending inappropriate stuff to their boss. One texter, ended up sending his driving instructor, 'a big, butch bloke' called Harry, a message thst was meant for his wife Hannah, saying that he loved him and discussing what they should have for dinner I've had people posting to my public forum page instead of in a private message - you know who you are. My advice? Slow down, and check before clicking "Send".)

According to a survey conducted by Asda, the best time to have a conversation with a man is 8:15pm. (Unfortunately the women in the survey said they would probably bring up a tricky topic at 8:20am We might not be from different planets, but it looks as if we run on different time-zones.)

According to a survey conducted by Confused.com, the average Brit lies about 10 times a week, 91 per cent have told a lie. (The most common lies were regarding vices:- 41% - the price of an item they had bought 25% - how much they drink 23% - eating habits, News.com.au reported 16% - past relationships 15% - where they were the previous night 14% - who they were with the night before Matt Lloyd, head of life insurance at Confused.com, said that little white lies are part and parcel of daily life. I'm glad he's not my husband.  Regarding the 9% who say they have never told a lie...)

A survey carried out by linguistics researchers at Manchester University found there were 7 different words for a bread roll in the UK. (In the South it was generally called a roll. In the North a bap or a bun. In the North-west a barm, or a muffin. In the Midlands a cob. In Yorkshire a tea cake! Now I'll go along with roll or a cob, but to me a bap is a softer, more floury bread roll, a muffin is an American cake, a bun is sweet and hopefully full of cream, and a tea cake is full of dried fruit and has to be toasted and served with lots of butter.)

According to a survey commissioned by the distributors for the film The Fifth Estate, 92% of men consider themselves to be good at keeping secrets. (However, thanks to social media, men now typically share a secret with someone within 3 hours of hearing it. The top 10 secrets men can't keep? A friend is having an affair. A friend lied about something. A boss/colleague is having an office romance. Someone is pregnant. Someone has been in trouble with the police. Someone was lying about their job or salary. Someone has had/is having plastic surgery. A friend has had a windfall. A friend/colleague is in financial trouble. A friend/colleague is having trouble in the bedroom department. (It takes women 3 and a half hours.) Just don't forget the saying, "Two can keep a secret, if one of them doesn't know about it." )

According to a survey conducted by Sky Rainforest Rescue, 9 out of 10 Brits are unable to identify 5 common trees. Most were able to name 5 trees, but they couldn't recognise them when shown a picture. (The survey found that many adults couldn't tell a maple tree from an oak or a fir, and nine out of ten people struggled to identify the pointed leaves and red berries of a holly tree. Many didn't even know where conkers come from, or that acorns grow on oaks. Horse chestnut, maple oak tree? Never heard of them. And the worst of all the fir tree, traditionally put up in our homes for Christmas, caused confusion with more than 1 in 10 unable to name a picture of one. I guess it was unrecognisable without its clothes on. )

According to a survey by the TV Channel Gold, men turn into their fathers at the age of 38. (The top signs that this might be happening to you are:- 1. You fall asleep in the living room. 2. You have ‘a chair’ 3. You enjoy Dad dancing 4. You spend time in the shed 5. You tell jokes that only you find funny 6. You don't know any artists in the top 40 7. You are spending longer on the toilet 8. You keep an eye on the thermostat 9. You get excited about white good sales 10. You enjoy embarrassing younger members of the family Oh dear - apart from number 3 and number 7, I think I'm turning into my dad!)

According to a survey carried out by lastminute.com, Brits spend nearly nine hours every weekend in front of a TV or computer screen. (34% of Brits admitted to spending their weekend watching TV,  27% catching up on sleep, cleaning the house (11%), doing ‘life’ admin (8%), getting drunk (5%). I do all of the above from time to time.)

According to a survey of business people in the UK, 2 biscuits is the polite quantity to eat. (Any more could be considered greedy.  Oh dear, it sounds like a calorie counter worked on this one. Update: A recent Times report placed this biscuit etiquette (or biscuiquette) at 2 and a half biscuits, but IMHO leaving half a biscuit would be rude and wasteful.  Maybe if there are 5 biscuits and 2 people, then maybe you can cut the spare bikky in half.)

According to a poll carried out in Europe by the website GrowingUpMilkInfo.com,   British children are the fussiest eaters in Europe. (Seemingly 26% of British children reject their meals every day, and 69% of children under five in the UK sometimes refuse to eat what they are given. The league table for fussy eaters is:- 1st - United Kingdom - 69% 2nd - Netherlands - 63% 3rd - Germany - 58%  and  Sweden - 58% 4th - France - 54% 5th - Spain - 40% Italy doesn't appear, probably because 37% of mothers in Italy said they are 'not bothered' about what their children eat.) Source

According to a survey run by Direct Line insurance, we need an extra 2 hours 45 minutes every day to do everything we want to do and have enough time to relax. (A basic need for most humans is to have seven hours of free time every day, but the average person nowadays (2013) only manages four hours, 14 minutes. In 1995, people had six hours and 57 minutes downtime, by 2000 that was reduced to six hours and 34 minutes. but nowadays it's a measly four hours, 14 minutes.  The culprit?  Technology.  So go on, switch off your computer and go and sit on the couch, or go and chill out in the garden, if you don't have a garden, take a walk in the park to feed the swans and get some fresh air.)  

In the 1970s 70% of mothers in the UK stayed at home full time. (In 2013 that figure is just 10%, but according to a survey by uSwitch, 75% of mums would like to be able to afford to stay at home and look after their children. Six out of ten mothers who return to work after having a baby do so only to pay the mortgage, or to ease financial pressures such as debt. Just one in seven said they wanted to develop their career.)

According to a new survey, run by the London School of Economics, the University of Manchester, and BBC Lab UK, there are no longer three social classes in the UK. (But that does not mean Britain is a classless society, oh no. There are now 7 social classes, which are (from the bottom up):- The precariat, or precarious proletariat - Most deprived group, with low levels of all three capitals. The traditional working class - Low on all three capitals, but not the poorest. Older on average than other classes. Emergent service workers - New class with low economic but high 'emerging' cultural capital. High social capital. Predominantly young and often found in urban areas. New affluent workers - Medium levels of economic, but higher levels of cultural and social capital. Young and active. Technical middle class - New, small class, with high economic capital but less culturally engaged. Relatively few social contacts. Established middle class - High levels of all three capit...

According to a survey by online retailer isme.com, men stop caring about what clothes they wear when they reach the age of 37. (Most of the men I know never even started caring about what clothes they wear.) 

According to a survey by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, nearly two-thirds of office workers continue working outside office hours. (The culprits are smartphones, notebooks and tablets, technology which has turned people into "screen slaves".  Admit it, we often work while commuting or after we get home. The main problem, apart from stress related illnesses, is that working in these environments encourages poor posture, which can lead to back and neck pain. Unions say that people need to learn to switch off their devices, so I'm going to make myself a cuppa now.)

According to the results of a BBC Lab UK survey, only 24% of people consider themselves working class. (In 1988 when they asked the same question, it was 67%. Of course in the UK there are only two classes - Them and Us.)