© Getty Images / Kathryn Riley/Getty ImagesUniversity of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas reacts after her team wins the 400 yard freestyle relay during the 2022 Ivy League Womens Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
The poll, which comes from Scottish-based analysis group Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM), showed that 35% of people sampled were of the belief that a transgender woman was someone who was born as a female, or did not know what the term meant.
The results, MBM said, showed that there are "high levels of misunderstanding and confusion" regarding gender-based phrases in the UK. The group added that the survey underscores a need for further clarity on language being used by the media in relation to debates around transgender athletes in sport or gender-affirming care.
"Using these terms, without spelling out what they mean for a person's sex as a matter of course, will leave a large minority of people at best uncertain," MBM's Lisa Mackenzie said.
The survey data also showed that 40% of people did not have an accurate definition of the term "trans woman," while the 25-34 age group was less knowledgeable about gender language than both the 18-24 and 55+ groups.
The topic of gender-based terms and gender identity has been a prevalent one in recent years, especially as it pertains to transgender women competing against biologically born women in sport. Gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18 has also incited debate about the ethics involved in medically assisting the gender transition of a young person.
Critics of the latter claim that many cases in which a minor disagrees with their biological sex can be explained as a side-effect of puberty, or gender dysmorphia - a clinical term used to describe when a person doesn't feel associated with the sex assigned at birth.
Various Republican-led legislatures in the United States have set in motion plans to restrict gender-affirming care for minors, while several sporting governing bodies have imposed rules over the past several months to restrict the ability for transgender women to compete against biological women in competition.
The topic drew widespread media attention after swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a female national collegiate title in the United States in March 2022. Thomas had previously competed, largely without success, on the University of Pennsylvania's men's swim team.
According to Maya Forstater from the Sex Matters campaign group, "When policy decisions are being made it is crucial that people understand what is meant.
"They need to spell out clearly whether the person is male or female," she told The Telegraph.
The only explain which comes to mind is that they are immigrants, and the trans-train does not stop in their home country?
Could be they are just clueless. Hard to believe that one though given the current media saturation.
Maybe just plain old dumb. That would be sad if true.
The poll could be fabricated. Up until a decade ago, I would not have even entertained this thought. But now it's a leading candidate.