ROWAN PELLING explains what a woman really means when she moans during sex

Once, when staying in a cheap hotel in Paris, sleep proved impossible because a woman in a neighbouring room was moaning in presumed ecstasy all night long.

I say ‘presumed’ because, as devotees of the film When Harry Met Sally know, courtesy of Meg Ryan’s loud simulation of an orgasm in a cafe, bedroom enthusiasm can easily be faked. 

In fact, according to findings from researchers at the University of Ottawa published this week, moaning is a poor indicator that a woman is truly experiencing sexual pleasure — so poor that they suggest it is taken off the official Orgasm Rating Scale altogether. 

Having spoken to more than 600 women, they say that faster breathing, goose bumps, pulsing, sweating, tingling and reddened skin are all much clearer signs that the earth is moving.