The tabloid-friendly term "happy-slapper" - and no, we're not still talking about the hairdressers but rather the practice of assaulting somebody while recording it on a video phone - did find favour with the pint pullers and their peers.

According to research carried out by somebody with far too much time on their hands (or possibly just somebody who was getting a taxi from the hairdressers to the pub when a lazy idea came to them), 56 per cent of respondents knew what happy-slapping is, compared to the 70 per cent who are oblivious to blogging and 90 per cent who might respond "what-casting?" when confronted withpodcasting.

A spokeswoman for the compilers, ad agency DDB London, told Reuters: "Our research not only shows that there is no buzz about blogging and podcasting outside of our media industry bubble but also that people have no understanding of what the words mean. It's a real wake-up call."