Researchers from onepoll.com say due to texts and emails, phrases such as “mad as a hatter” and “as right as rain” are falling out of use. Young people are more used to using abbreviated words and shortened sentences to fit in to Twitter updates (140 characters) and Facebook status posts.

A spokesman for the firm said: “It is a shame that these more colloquial, historical and poetic expressions are dying out in favour of shortened, more directed and less ambiguous terms.

“However, it isn’t much of a surprise when you consider that television and the internet has taken the place of family conversations in the evening.

“And now that kids are increasingly using communication technologies that previous generations could not have dreamed about, such as mobile phones, social networking and Twitter; this disappearance of verbal ties to the past can only be expected to increase.”

(Source: The Telegraph)

Language inevitably evolves, so it’s not surprising that three quarters of those polled believe phrases such as “mind your Ps and Qs” are dying out. Some of the richness of the English language may be lost though, so please comment and let me know your favourite adage!