Bad news, ladies… after listening to more than 2,200 encounters, scientists have finally worked out how to tell you’re faking it

It’s one of the most memorable scenes in any Hollywood romantic comedy.

But when Meg Ryan faked an orgasm in a crowded restaurant in When Harry Met Sally, it was too loud to be mistaken for the real thing, scientists say.

Swedish researchers claim to have discovered the sure sign a woman is faking it, and say loud moaning and screaming – as Ms Ryan was behaving in front of her colleagues – is rare.

The scientists listened to 34 hours of audio recordings of bedroom activity to reach their conclusions.

Exaggerating and moaning too loudly means the pleasure may be fake, they said.

According to scientists, moans and light grunts are most common, with very little talking. Contrary to popular belief, men are just as loud as women.

“The high-pitched screams and ecstasy associated with pornographic films were conspicuous by their absence,” the paper said.

Researchers from Lund University analyzed recordings of 2,239 sexual encounters provided to them by willing couples. The recordings included 21,314 sighs, 74,422 syllables, and 54,145 groans or grunts.

One of the goals of the research was to identify any sounds that could be evidence of fakery.

“For both men and women, sounds became longer, louder, and more pitched and pitched as arousal reached its peak,” the psychologists concluded.

“Men are not less vocal in general.” Speech or even simple verbal exclamations are uncommon. Very few sounds can be described as screaming.

Listeners said that the larger volume, excessive vocals and longer passages were signs of the woman’s inauthenticity, while the difference in pitch and the unpredictability of some voices were signs of authenticity.

“Based on observations that women seem to do most of the moaning, human sexual vocalizations are often considered little more than conscious attempts on the part of women to please their partners,” the researchers said.

“This idea is based on self-reports or porn studies, as no one has yet analyzed recordings of actual human sex. This study, the first to analyze real sex episodes, paints a very different picture.”

“Based on this new evidence, human sexual vocalizations are at least in part genuine, spontaneous expressions of admiration, made by both men and women in moments of intense pleasure.”

Men used to be just as vocal as women, but they found it at different times.

While light moans from women start a little earlier in the proceedings, men sigh and sigh until the arousal level becomes very high, peaking 15 seconds before climax. This was followed by an average of ten seconds of silence from both men and women. Sex therapist and author Philip Hodson said: “This study raises some interesting questions.

“Sex is a worrying, more ostentatious affair than business – especially in a world where up to 80 per cent of women claim to have faked climax, with the same admission from up to a third of men.

“Loud snoring in bed is no more authentic than loud snoring on Wimbledon Center Court.”