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Transition.
Ever wonder how popular a word or phrase or person or thing is over time? Well, wonder no more. Google recently released an incredible new tool that searches across millions of books published in the last 200 years and graphs a word or phrase’s popularity of time.
It is called ngram, and it is awesome.
Want to see how it works?
Here’s vampires vs. werewolves vs. zombies.
Want to track inventions?
Here’s telegraph vs. telephone vs. Internet.
Want to see if your slang matches the time?
Here’s mama vs. papa vs. mom vs. dad.
Authors?
Here’s Faulkner vs. Fitzgerald vs. Hemingway.
Preparation of the potato?
Here’s baked potatoes vs. mashed potatoes vs. french fries vs. potato chips.
Honestly, I could go on like this all day. And if you want to play along, link to your favorite ngrams in the comment section!
crow productions says
I'd wonder about "actually" and "awesome".
Jessica says
Now I have to try it simply for the word "like" and phrase "you know"
JohnO says
I saw a post by a romance blogger who had tracked bosom vs. chest. Chest had swelled in recent years, while bosom … ah well.
Anonymous says
"Heaven" descending; "Hell" holding steady.
Alec says
I've been using Google Ngrams to get a rough sense of how the reputations of certain writers (John Updike, Toni Morrison, Stephen King, Jacqueline Susann, and more) have risen and fallen over time. Some of the results are pretty surprising. If you're curious, I've been blogging about it here and here.
Nicole L Rivera says
Heres the link for "write" vs. "text" vs "blog" vs "tweet":https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=write%2Ctext%2Cblog%2Ctweet&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3
Munk Davis says
Thanks Nathan, I hadn't seen this and love this kind of thing.
Matthew Rush says
Oh my god that looks awesome. Could it be even more fun than analytics? I'm off to find out …
… oh but before I go, why does that one graph make it look like the internet started getting slightly less popular recently? Am I trippin?
Brooke Johnson says
looks like 1920 was a good year for potatoes.
D.G. Hudson says
I checked mysteries, science fiction and thrillers and found that mysteries topped the charts by a WIDE margin. Interesting. Science fiction picked up in the sixties, and thrillers is just starting to increase. Sounds about right.
Thanks Nathan, ngrams are a little something for the wordsmiths.
Mira says
Wait a minute. It's Tuesday, and Nathan is posting?!!
Okay, now you're just messing with my head, Mr. Bransford.
But I'll take it!! Yay! 🙂
So, Ngrams. This is the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my entire life. How do they think of these things? Obviously I'm going to have to quit my job, because I need to devote my life to playing with this new internet toy 24-7.
Speaking of which, I'm off to the Ngram site. Thanks for the early Christmas present, Nathan. 🙂
David says
It's hard to foresee the impact of this on various kinds of cultural and historical studies, but I bet it will be immense.
As more and more books are published originally in digital form, the power of this technique will grow.
Anonymous says
At first I thought, too much info.
But, if you've ever had a dispute with an editor over a word or phrase, this sort of thing can come in handy.
Sarah says
Vampire vs. Vampyre:
https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=vampire%2C+vampyre&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3
Sierra McConnell says
The Nephilim are on the rise…
https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=Nephilim&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3
>:3
The Red Angel says
Haha, this is awesome! And very interesting. I love the vampires v.s. werewolves one…
~TRA
https://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
JES says
Here's violin vs. guitar, 1920-2000. I was kinda surprised to see they didn't cross until almost 1990!
Heidi says
Elves seem to be a popular 19th century topic, above fairies and unicorns: https://tinyurl.com/3ychel3
and imps spiked in 1860 way above trolls and goblins: https://tinyurl.com/2c2hqjp
Who knew?
Ghenet says
This is cool! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
swampfox says
I still say vampires are supposed to DIE in the sunlight!
Even Anne Rice had that right!
Alan Jones says
Life is getting easier https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=laborious&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3
Anonymous says
Although improved from earlier attempts by Google to do this, the Ngrams database is still considered too statistically flawed to use for serious research. For instance, even though the Ngram database includes sources as far back as 1500, anything earlier than 1800 is considered unreliable as there were too few books to provide enough statistical power. In The New York Times: Five-Million-Book Google Database Gets a Workout – and Debate – in Its First Days. Ngrams might be a fun distraction, but serious writers and scholars are warning against using it for any more than that.
Anonymous says
Oh, goody! Ngrams provides another source of flawed information in the modern world. But who cares, right? Who wants to be an informed writer or reader? Distractions are so much more fun … and so much easier than doing rigorous research!
Philip Isles says
Currenlty doign a writeup for my blog about combining Wordle and Ngrams. Basically: pump your manuscript through Wordle, then do an NGrams for your most commonly reoccurring words: https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=back%2Cturn%2Clook%2Clooked%2Caround%2Clike%2Cthought%2Ceven%2Cknow%2Cjust%2Csomething%2Csee&year_start=1930&year_end=2000&corpus=4&smoothing=0. You can now assess whether your reoccurring words naturally occur more than others, and therefore zone in on what words you really are using too much as opposed to those which just naturally reoccur more than others in the English language.
Nathan Bransford says
anon@2:11pm-
Ha – better to spend one's time writing snarky comments, I assume?
Doth not a dull blade still cut if one isn't concerned about exactness?
Mira says
Anon 2:11: "A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men" Roald Dahl.
So, did you know you could do just one word? Here's the graph for 'awesome':
https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=awesome&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3
That's… awesome. 🙂
Mira says
Nathan – ha! we're posting in sync. 🙂
Anonymous says
Nathan,
Believe it or not, some people in the publishing world are still interested in correct and valid information. Some people feel that's important. If that's snarky, so be it.
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
It was a matter of style rather than content. But I was snarky back so my leg is not much to stand on. All in good fun.
Anonymous says
Mira, that's fine, if it's promoted as nonsense, rather than knowledge!
Mira says
Anon – I think it's being promoted as an awesome 'item of interest.' Which it is.
Although, down the road, it will, most likely, eventually be fiddled with until it's an amazing and accurate research tool. The possiblities are exciting.
Well, I'm off, so I'll just leave you with this Christmas Quote:
"God Bless us, everyone"
– Tiny Tim
Have a happy.
Anonymous says
Nathan, LOL. Yes, snarky comment back to snarky comment does not undo snark.
Between the drivel on the news and all the incorrect information on the Internet, I seriously feel that snarky intelligent commenting is important. You used to have a lot of intensely intellectual commenters here, with incredibly indepth discussions. I guess that's not the type of discussion that's welcomed here anymore. I apologize for not realizing that sooner. Enjoy the Ngrams. Have a great holiday!
– Anon @2:11 PM
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
All are welcome, I'm not upset or anything and didn't delete your comment. But I humbly suggest if deep intelligent discussion is what you're after I'd consider leading by example on that. Hope you have a great holiday as well.
Anonymous says
Mira, that's not how Google announced its N-gram program: here. They announced it as a serious research tool. Enough said. Obviously, the discussion here was meant to be silly, not to discuss the actual N-gram program. My mistake. I apologize. Have a good holiday!
Anonymous says
It turns out the Beatles never held a candle to Jesus.
Kristin Laughtin says
Whoa, that sounds like it could be addicting, but awesomely fun. I'm surprised by potato chips vs. french fries!
J. T. Shea says
Stop gloating, you bloodsuckers and rotters! We werewolves know there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. We'll be back. Just like telegraphs and papa and Hemingway (also called 'Papa') and baked potatoes. Just you wait for the next full moon.
Mira, my only regret is that I have but one life to give for the Internet. We'll have to get ourselves cloned, like Nathan. (You don't really believe there's just one of him, do you?)
Philip Isles, what's wrong with using a word more it 'naturally' reoccurs in the English language? Why write anything if you just want to write the same as anybody else?
Anonymous 2:11 pm, you're right, distractions ARE so much more fun! What do you think we're all doing here? On the blog of someone whose forums have a whole section devoted to distractions? BTW, those intensely intellectual commenters were all eaten by werewolves, with baked potatoes, fava beans, and a nice Chianti.
Nathan, yes, a dull blade doth indeed still cut if one isn't concerned about exactness, but a spoon would be even better, as the Sheriff of Nottingham once said. Ok, it was really Alan Rickman pretending to be the Sheriff of Nottingham in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood movie. My research isn't very exact.
dana says
This has nothing to to with an engram.
What does a person do when they have two good queries…but "thinks" one is better – and everyone else says "NO!" What criteria do I use to separate the wheat from the shaff?
I doubting myself now.
Laura says
could anyone explain the use of 'internet' around 1900?
Anonymous says
Man vs. Woman
https://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=woman%2C+man&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3
Nathan Bransford says
Laura-
Google explains here
Kristi Helvig says
I'm a little disappointed to find there is no data for space monkeys in Ngram. Other than that, it's pretty fun. 🙂
Anonymous says
Oh for cripes' sake, mass culture proving mass culture is a runaway supertanker? Another duh-huh moment in the annals of human accomplishment.
Watcher55 says
MS Word corrected me for using mankind instead of humanity. Interesting result; mankind starts out way ahead then they run neck and neck from about the turn of the century then switch around 1980. Social evolution and the advent of PC perhaps?
Lauren says
Did usa vs. america. LARGE spike of USA somewhere in the '80s. Wish Google went past 2000, it'd be interesting to see if it went back up again after 2001.
Lauren says
Oh, silly me, it does! And nope, no spike again. Curiouser and curiouser.
Anonymous says
Ngrams is too much fun. “OMG” shows a huge spike (maybe due to rising popularity of YA and MG texts?), “heart” and “soul” are taking a parallel dive, and “Merry Christmas,” though showing a brief drop recently, is rising again and has consistently reigned over “Happy Holidays.”
~Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All~
Teralyn Rose Pilgrim says
I've argued with many English collegues over whether "irrgardless" is a word (or should be). When I compared it to "regardless," the word "irregardless" didn't even show up. It's official: no one says it, it doesn't make sense, it is not a word. That was fun.
Jordan Summers says
I'm genuinely surprised that zombies have surpassed werewolves. Scratches head.
Peter Dudley says
This is definitely fun and has some legitimate uses. But before you use it for serious research, make sure you know what you're getting.
For example: My understanding is that each text was included once, and that there was no weighting for popularity. Thus, all the words in Shogun would be counted equally to all the words in OJ Simpson: Football's Record Rusher (both published in 1975).
Similarly, take the Harry Potter series. I know a ton of Americans who have started using the term "snogging" in the past few years. Presumably, the data in ngram will work itself out over time as "snogging" appears in more books in the future. But it's hard to say that the data are really clean when Harry Potter and a book that sells 300 copies are considered equal, from a cultural phenomenon standpoint. At the very least, we should step back and say the data are good only for big-picture trending.
Another example: Compare basketball, baseball, and football. Now throw in soccer. Oops! Much of the world refers to soccer as football. Can't be sure exactly what we're looking at.
Still, it's a lot of fun and in some ways instructional. And a great way to avoid working on that WIP.