Will you be saying LOL to your grandchildren? Welcome to the new era of the Granennial!

More than a third of people expect they will be saying ‘LOL’ to their grandchildren, our new survey reveals.

In news that threatens to shake up the nation’s long-held perception of the Werther’s Original grandparent, the new Granennial will be a whole lot…well, cooler.

We showed a list of acronyms and phrases to 1,657 UK adults, who either had grandchildren or had not ruled out the possibility of having them. They included modern phrases like ‘YOLO’ (“you only live once”) and ‘LOL’ (“laughing out loud”). We asked our respondents which of them they envisaged saying or texting to a grandchild at some point.

Some 36.3% of respondents in our survey, which was commissioned to celebrate national Grandparents Day on October 2nd, said they’d be using ‘LOL’. And just over a fifth (21.3%) said they’d be using ‘cool’. A heart-warming 8.8% said they’d be using the acronym ‘WTF’. We’ve put the full list of results at the bottom of this post.

Hobbies

When it came to hobbies, people thought they’d take up or continue to enjoy at retirement, there was a stark difference across ages in some cases and extreme similarities in others.

We asked 2,000 UK adults in five age categories which hobbies they’d pursue when they retired – they were allowed to pick one from a selection of 11.

A total of 27.1% of people aged 18-24 said they’d still be playing video games at retirement, compared to only 3.4% of 55 year olds. Encouragingly, 48% of those aged 55 and up said travelling would be the top pastime on their list once retired, and we saw similar enthusiasm in the 18-24 year old category (56.4%).

Celebs

All respondents were asked who they would most want as a grandparent right now and celebrity baker Mary Berry topped the list of 11 stars with 16.8% giving her the nod.

Of the men – our potential grandads – comic actor Stephen Fry came out in the lead with 12.7%. Just 3.8% preferred Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as a grandparent. Perhaps, Mr Corbyn will take comfort in the fact that his political rival Theresa May proved almost as unpopular – with just 4.5% of the vote. Click here to see the full list.

Grandparents are basically brilliant! Do you have an amazing grandparent, or know a wonderful Granennial? If you’d like to tell the world how cool your grandma or grandad is, click here to enter our competition and for a chance to win £50 in vouchers.

Take a look at our My Choice (ISA), designed specifically with grandparents in mind. The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you could get back less than you invested.

Which of the following words, acronyms or phrases do you think you will ever say or text message to your grandchildren?	LOL	36.3%	601
	YOLO	7.2%	119
	Goals	6.7%	111
	Bae	2.4%	39
	Cool	21.3%	353
	WTF	8.8%	146
	TMI	4.7%	78
	TFW	1.9%	32
	None of these	46.7%	773
	Total	100.0%	1657*

*Base: 1,657 UK adults who either have grandchildren or have not ruled it out

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