Sleep talking is likely to cause offence, according to new research.

Vulgar sleep talking

Vulgar sleep talking

The condition where you shout out words while you sleep is more common among children and males, but a new study by Dr. Isabelle Arnulf has revealed some of the things people are likely to say.

The investigation into sleeping habits saw 232 adults recorded over the course of a few nights, and it found that the most common word was ''no'', but 22 per cent used ''nasty'' language while they were getting shuteye.

Dr. Anulf told MNT: ''What we now know is that sleep talking is very similar to talking awake, in terms of correct grammar, with subordinate sentences, and silence for others to answer, as in awake turn of speech.

''The differences are qualitative: nocturnal language is negative, tense, more vulgar, and addressed to somebody, not to oneself.

''It suggests that the brain uses the same networks as awake, and that sleep talking translates the concomitant dreaming activity, which is tense, too.''