If you leave a voicemail on your mate’s phone arranging for a couple of jars in the local rub-a-dub without the trouble'n’strife and then your pal doesn’t arrive, it could be because you’re using too much slang. Innit.

According to the company behind SpinVox, a system that converts voicemails into text messages, Brits now use so much slang in everyday conversation that only 30 per cent of the system’s lexicon can be found in a standard English language dictionary.

SpinVox's dictionary, dubbed D2, learns about 150 new words each week. For example, if you leave the missus a voicemail asking her to collect some 'spogs' on the way home, SpinVox knows you’re talking about confectionary.

It also knows that people from the Midlands will say the baby’s 'blarting', when it’s actually crying. Someone in Northen England may claim they’ve been mugged in a 'genell', or alleyway, and anyone from Tyneside might get a bit 'hacky', or dirty, after a game of rugby.