Posted on: Sunday, February 22, 2009
Most Americans are lousy spellers
By John MacIntyre
Percentage of Americans who had problems with one or more spellings in a test of 10 everyday words, according to a survey by Ipsos MORI for the Spelling Society: more than 50%
Percentage of respondents who initially believed they would have a problem spelling: 25%
Percentage who rely on spell-checkers for tasks such as job applications or writing important letters: 33%
Ranks of women and men when it comes to spelling: 1, 2 (The only word that men spelled better than women in the U.S. test was "liaison.")
CAR BUYER REGRETS
Percentage of car buyers who said their worst mistake was overpaying for a new car that quickly depreciated in value, according to a survey by Ipsos Public Affairs for CarMax: 26%
Percentage who said their worst mistake was not doing enough research: 22%
OFFICE DATING
Percentage of workers who have dated a co-worker at some time, according to www.CareerBuilder.com's annual office romance survey: 40% (18% did it twice or more)
Percentage of male workers who currently work with someone they'd like to date: 14%
Percentage of women who said the same: 5%
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Percentage of alternative energy investors and analysts who expect those stocks to outperform the broader markets in 2009, according to a survey by Waggener Edstrom Worldwide: 50%
Percentage who see the Obama administration as a "positive" or "very positive" performance catalyst: 82%
THE WORRIERS
Percentage of affluent Americans (income over $100,000) who say the economy is their greatest concern, according to an Ipsos Mendelsohn survey: 60%
Percentage who cited unemployment and jobs: 30%
DATA BREACHES
Cost per compromised customer to U.S. companies of data breach incidents, according to PGP Corp. and the Ponemon Institute, which examined 43 organizations in 17 industry sectors: $202
Since the U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study's inception in 2005, estimated growth per victim of this cost (nearly a 40 percent increase): $64
CAREGIVING STRAIN
Percentage of baby boomers caring for an aging parent who say that has put a strain on their marriage, according to a study by www.Caring.com: 80%
Percentage of divorced baby boomers who said caregiving played a major role in their divorce: 25%
IDLE THOUGHT
"This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in."
— Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president
Contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.
