Britons are far more fond of thinking about making merry than making whoopee, according to a revealing study that shows people like the sound of beer, chocolate and money more than sex and yes even football.
The portrait of the general public emerging from how people fill in their Friends Reunited profiles suggests that it's time for a new national toast, which ought to run: 'Love me, then buy me a beer!'
The 15 million members of Friends Reunited, the website that brings together former school- and work-mates, are asked to state their top 20 favourite words in their profile sections.
From the 750,000 people that have done so, the website's technical boffins have compiled a list of the most popular words - and the results confirm that 'No Sex Please, We're British' is not all that far off the national psyche.
'Love', 'Me' and 'Beer' are the top three most favourite words in the UK. They are more popular than Chocolate, Money, Sex, Friends and Family put together.
Words relating to food and drink make up a quarter of the list. There are no words occurring which relate specifically to physical activity. With a world cup upon us, the absence of 'Football' might strike some as a tragedy.
'Love' reigns supreme as Britain's favourite word, with nine per cent of users, equal to almost 68,000 people, agreeing with the Beatles that it's all you really need.
However those celebrating next year's 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, with its rallying cry of 'Peace and Love', may be disappointed that 'Peace' slipped off the bottom of the list. It was a favourite of only around 15,000 people - only marginally more important than 'Vodka'.
'Me' may be just a little word, but 45,000 people chose it, putting it at number two.
Despite associations of burping, pot-bellied barmen and stale foam crusting the rim of a glass, the word 'Beer' managed to stagger into third place with 37,500 people savouring the sound of it.
But given that beer and sex so frequently go together, it's how far apart they are in the Favourite Words list that is the real shocker.
All that effort associated with conjuring up images connected with 'Sex' seems to be too much for many. Only 31,125 couldn't get enough of that word for the beast with two backs, plunging it right out of the top five and into sixth place in the list of Favourite Words.
Michael Murphy, Chief Executive of Friends Reunited said, "Just imagine what a modern version of the Sound of Music would look like with Julie Andrews using this list for 'My Favourite Things'.
"It's good to know that love reigns supreme for most Brits, and that people still get a warm buzz when they think about the simple things in life like friends and family.
"The ring of 'Love me, then buy me a beer!' sounds like it would appeal to so many people that it should become the new national toast."
Other interesting points revealed by Friends Reunited Favourite Words include:
As listed by 750,000 Friends Reunited members
For more information contact Carolynne Bull-Edwards or Victoria Reed on: 01883 717468 / 07932 723866 or email press@friendsreunited.co.uk
Friends Reunited was launched in July 2000 as a back bedroom hobby. A combination of word of mouth and immense media attention has propelled the site to phenomenon status, expanding beyond the school friends proposition to include workplaces, teams/clubs and streets. Friends Reunited has touched many thousands of lives, reuniting friends and family around the globe.
15 million people registered (about half of all UK households with internet access)
5,000 new members registered on average per day (more than enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall every day)
4,500 years have been spent looking at the site by the UK public (if you started reading when the Pyramids were built, you'd just be finishing now)
6.5 billion pages of the website have been looked at in total (that's the same as reading 4.2 million copies of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy)