A couple in the US have charted the text messages sent to each other over the course of their relationship.
Data scientist Alice Zhao put together the charts as an anniversary present for her husband and found a marked difference in the language used during their first year of dating and since they tied the knot.
According to the Daily Mail, the 27-year-old noticed that their chats went from being quite flirty to very factual.
‘We don’t say “love” as much anymore. Our conversations changed from “hey, what’s up?” to “ok, sounds good” and and we stopped saying each other’s names in our text messages.”
However, while the use of lovely-dovey language may have dropped, Zhao says this is probably due to that fact that she is now living with her husband and exchanges affection with him face-to-face rather than by text.
“Our text messages have become more predictable, but only because all of the unpredictable things happen in person. We no longer have to text “I love you” from a distance in the middle of the night. I can now roll over, snuggle with my husband and whisper it into his ear.”
