世論 What Japan Thinks

As I just had one of them today, I thought I’d publish this silly goo Ranking two days early; the survey looks at the moment when you realise you mucked up or encountered some other disaster of your own making, for both men and women.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of February 2008 1,052 people from the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% were female, 6.4% in their teens, 15.7% in their twenties, 31.0% in their thirties, 26.6% in their forties, 11.2% in their fifties, and 9.1% aged sixty or over. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

My “oh bugger!” moment was going to work and realising that today is actually a special holiday; we get four a year at work, and as yesterday (Thursday 20th March) was the spring equinox, a Japan public holiday, they decided to declare Friday a special holiday, so I turned up to a locked office! Oh bugger! Oh, and wifey did the women’s number 23 yesterday, remembering to hang out everything except my bath towel, although it was me rather than her who said “Oh bugger!”

By the way, I hope you don’t mind my use of language – I use the rule of thumb that I don’t write anything I wouldn’t want my mother reading, and as “oh bugger!” is just about the only swearword I’ve ever heard her use, if you are offended, please email my mother…

And for your enjoyment:

Or this link to YouTube for those with embedded objects turned off.

Ranking results

Q: What is your “Oh bugger!” moment? (Sample size=519, men)

Rank		Score
1	Oh bugger! I closed the program without saving my data!	100
2	Oh bugger! I shook the condiment shaker too hard and it all spilt out all over my ramen!	73.2
3	Oh bugger! I chucked away some important stuff!	70.1
4	Oh bugger! I pressed Hot instead of Cold (or vice versa) on the vending machine!	69.3
5	Oh bugger! I bought the same magazine twice!	64.0
6	Oh bugger! I spilt coffee on some documents I had to keep clean!	62.5
7	Oh bugger! I tried to drain off just the excess hot water from instant yakisoba but poured all the contents away!	53.6
8	Oh bugger! I called out to someone but used the wrong name, and they heard!	50.6
9	Oh bugger! I was waiting for the train and realised I was in the wrong queue!	49.4
10	Oh bugger! The last ten minutes of a television program I recorded were cut!	48.7
11	Oh bugger! I rented a video or DVD I’d already seen!	46.4
12	Oh bugger! The caller hung up the phone just as I answered it!	36.4
13	Oh bugger! I meant to buy shampoo but bought rinse instead!	34.9
14	Oh bugger! I was one yen short at the check-out!	34.1
15	Oh bugger! The carriage I boarded split from the main train and went another way!	34.1
16	Oh bugger! After shampooing my hair I shampooed it again!	31.8
17	Oh bugger! I stopped the car just out of reach of the toll gates or parking ticket machine!	30.7
18	Oh bugger! I forgot to return that video!	29.5
19	Oh bugger! I bit the silver paper on the chocolate!	29.1
20	Oh bugger! I left the toilet still wearing the toilet slippers!	28.0
21=	Oh bugger! I forgot about the food I put in the microwave!	27.2
21=	Oh bugger! I found some rotten food in the fridge!	27.2
23	Oh bugger! I surfed to a site loaded with Flash!	25.7
24	Oh bugger! I thought it was Friday but it’s only Thursday!	24.9
25	Oh bugger! I didn’t staple the paper together properly!	22.6
26	Oh bugger! I went and clicked on an affiliate link casually thrown into some text!	19.2
27	Oh bugger! My pen ran out of ink!	18.0
28	Oh bugger! Clothes left in the washing machine dried out!	17.6
29	Oh bugger! I’ve not got enough money in my electronic wallet!	11.1
30	Oh bugger! I set the wrong date on the camera!	10.7

Q: What is your “Oh bugger!” moment? (Sample size=533, women)

Rank		Score
1	Oh bugger! I shook the condiment shaker too hard and it all spilt out all over my ramen!	100
2	Oh bugger! I chucked away some important stuff!	96.4
3	Oh bugger! I closed the program without saving my data!	96.4
4	Oh bugger! The last ten minutes of a television program I recorded were cut!	78.2
5	Oh bugger! I tried to drain off just the excess hot water from instant yakisoba but poured all the contents away!	77.4
6=	Oh bugger! I meant to buy shampoo but bought rinse instead!	73.8
6=	Oh bugger! After shampooing my hair I shampooed it again!	73.8
8	Oh bugger! I spilt coffee on some documents I had to keep clean!	73.4
9	Oh bugger! I found some rotten food in the fridge!	71.8
10	Oh bugger! I forgot about the food I put in the microwave!	71.4
11	Oh bugger! I bought the same magazine twice!	69.4
12	Oh bugger! I was one yen short at the check-out!	65.9
13	Oh bugger! I called out to someone but used the wrong name, and they heard!	64.7
14	Oh bugger! I pressed Hot instead of Cold (or vice versa) on the vending machine!	59.5
15	Oh bugger! The caller hung up the phone just as I answered it!	57.5
16	Oh bugger! I rented a video or DVD I’d already seen!	54.8
17	Oh bugger! I was waiting for the train and realised I was in the wrong queue!	51.6
18	Oh bugger! I forgot to return that video!	50.8
19	Oh bugger! The carriage I boarded split from the main train and went another way!	48.8
20	Oh bugger! I bit the silver paper on the chocolate!	40.9
21	Oh bugger! I left the toilet still wearing the toilet slippers!	39.3
22	Oh bugger! I surfed to a site loaded with Flash!	36.1
23	Oh bugger! Clothes left in the washing machine dried out!	35.3
24=	Oh bugger! I stopped the car just out of reach of the toll gates or parking ticket machine!	33.7
24=	Oh bugger! I thought it was Friday but it’s only Thursday!	33.7
26	Oh bugger! I went and clicked on an affiliate link casually thrown into some text!	30.2
27	Oh bugger! I didn’t staple the paper together properly!	28.6
28	Oh bugger! My pen ran out of ink!	25.4
29	Oh bugger! I pulled the string on a paper apron too hard and tore it!	19.4
30	Oh bugger! I left my pot noodle sitting for more than 3 minutes 15 seconds!	13.9