Register Hardware hacks get pretty defensive when someone ‘borrows’ their gadgets, but verbal exchanges are usually as heated as disagreements get. But a US man’s been stabbed, allegedly by his ex-girlfriend, in an argument over.. ahem... the TV remote.

Brittney Love Venton, 19, of St Paul, Minneapolis, has been charged with second-degree assault and is being held on a $50,000 (£33,000/€36,000) bail, according to a report by website TwinCities. This follows an attack on Nicholas Ervin Smith, 25, of the same location, late last week.

Although Smith’s memory of the event is hazy, he said: “I remember her stabbing me” over an “exchange of words... I might've said something to piss her off,” he added.

Several neighbours reportedly came into Smith’s flat to see what the hubbub was about and a local resident - one Juanita Luke - claimed to have witnessed the attack, in which Smith was stabbed in the gut.

“One person wanted to see one thing, one person wanted to see the other, so she stabbed him in the stomach,” Luke said.

Another witness said the “victim and defendant were arguing over the TV remote”.

Exactly why the pair argued over the remote is still unclear. Perhaps she wanted to watch American Idol and he wanted to watch Scrubs?

The remote’s since been transferred to a secure location...

Don't forget to check out Register Hardware's universal remote controls group test