I make sure to not get caught short in substandard undercrackers '“ Blaise Tapp

Long before Google children were much easier to fob off, so were susceptible to yarns such as carrots helping you see in the dark.

Because kids today are simply far savvier. 

But that doesn't mean that some of these bygone pearls of wisdom should be dismissed as bunkum.

Since my school days I have always had my mother's words of advice ringing in my ears when I get dressed in the morning and always make sure that I have decent underwear on before I skip off on my merry way to the Promised Land of the school run and the office.

Never mind that clean, smart undies should be a fundamental requirement of any right-thinking person, I have always had that nagging doubt in my head that today might be the day that I step out in front of the number 66 bus while updating my status on social media.

But thanks to childhood brainwashing, it is not the prospect of losing my life in a needlessly tragic road accident which worries me most. 

It's the risk I might be wearing substandard smalls which won't stand up sartorial scrutiny in accident and emergency which holds the most fear for me.

In the late '˜80s there was a fashion revolution which ushered in the age of boxer shorts, much to chagrin of traditionalists such as my late father, who regarded their existence as an affront to masculinity.

We now have trunks which while offering, ahem, a degree support are nowhere near as restrictive as grandad's y-fronts and, let's be honest, are far more appealing to the naked eye.

But it isn't just fashion where boxers and trunks win the day '“  when it comes to producing children, boxers are best. 

A study published in the journal Human Reproduction examined 650 men at a fertility clinic and concluded that the half who wore looser fitting undergarments produced healthier sperm.

As a proud dad of two I think I owe my dear old mum a huge vote of thanks.