Britain’s favourite swear word revealed
And other stories from the stranger side of life

The F-word has overtaken “bloody” as the UK’s favourite swear word, according to a new study. An expert said the F-word is popular because it is “semantically vague”. However, researchers found that in the past two decades, the use of both words has declined, with the use of “bloody” estimated to have plummeted by 80%. The use of the word “shit”, however, nearly doubled.
Surgery ‘turning people into aliens’
A top plastic surgeon has criticised his industry for promoting a “twisted standard of beauty” that encourages people to adopt an “alienised” look. Steven Harris, who practises at the Harris Clinic in North London, said that the industry was becoming a breeding ground for mental health illnesses thanks to the rise of extreme cosmetic alterations such as pumped up lips, protruding cheekbones and abnormally arched eyebrows.
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A hot dog takes 36 minutes off your life
Every hot dog a person eats shortens their life by 36 minutes, according to new research. Experts at the University of Michigan said that the 61 grams of processed meat in the results in 27 minutes of healthy life lost. “Then, when considering the other risk factors, like the sodium and trans fatty acids inside the hot dog - counterbalanced by the benefit of its polyunsaturated fat and fibres - we arrived at the final value of 36 minutes of healthy life lost per hot dog,” they said.
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