Mothers

We celebrate the fact that Britain is a nation of mummy's boys - and girls - with the mother of all web guides.

1. Mum's the word: 76% of Britons phone or email their mothers at least once a week, according to the latest British Social Attitudes survey.

2. However, nearly half of the middle-aged adults surveyed said their family made too many demands on them. They phone you up, your mum and dad ...

3. One individual who certainly won't be calling mom - apart from "bitch" or "ho" - is Eminem, the man who built an extremely lucrative rap career around bashing his old lady on vinyl.

4. There is also a rich tradition of pop stars being revoltingly saccharine about their mothers. In delightful counterpoint to the lyrics of Cleaning Out My Closet is the Spice Girls' Mamma - and two books aren't enough for Britney and Mommy Spears to tell the world all about their special bond.

5. But mums can be tough cookies too, as Mother Jones - the leftwing US webzine named after working class heroine Mary Harris Jones - explains: "By embracing the very role of family matriarch that restricted most women, Mother Jones shattered the limits that confined her."

6. In fact, the list of famous mothers is endless, ranging from Mother Teresa, the blue-and-white-wimpled nun who may soon be promoted to Saint ...

7. Through Mother Goose, a mysterious large-billed matriarch who told nursery rhymes and favoured a ribboned bonnet ...

8. To Mary (as in Holy, aka Virgin), who preferred a more glowy, celestial look for her headgear.

9. The word "mother" features in a well-known swearword that ranked second in severity according to a 1997 survey of taboo words.

10. And mothers, like Essex girls before them, have become the latest female minority to spawn a whole genre of jokes. Click here to find out exactly how fat yo mamma is.