Welcome to the 21st century.

Google has now digitized and cataloged millions of books from as far back as the 16th century. Take that, and mix in some university researchers desperate for a thesis, and you get Google’s N-Gram tool.

Essentially, you can type in any series of words or phrases, separated by commas, and Google will graph the frequency with which those words appeared in literature over the ages.

For instance, I wondered about “sneaked” and “snuck.” Which is correct? When did the wrong one appear and how popular is it? Well, easy enough: Click to see the results! Turns out, “sneaked” is correct, but “snuck” has been gradually sneaking up on it since the 1920’s. As a side note, “sneaked” shows a huge spike during and after WWII. Seems we got all interested in sneaking during the war.

Here are some more search ideas:
Who is more popular? Frodo, or Harry Potter?
When did the desktop start to lose out to the laptop?
When did “crap” become more popular than “poop”? (Try adding that other 4-letter scatological, word for a real surprise.)

If you’re interested and have 15 minutes to burn, here’s the video of the researchers describing their project at TED. (Clicky clicky)

Q: Why did the cowboy buy a wiener dog?

A: Because someone told him to get a long little doggie.

Time flies like an arrow.

Fruit flies like a banana.

Q: Why was the math book so sad?

A: It had a lot of problems.

Yes. We have returned from a grand trip to Colorado. Yes. There are oodles pictures. Yes. There are a plethora of videos. I’m working on it. I swear. Check back here in a few days and I’ll have something up. Honest. I’m trying. Give me a break, would ya?!

Here’s a teaser, to placate you for a bit.

Two fish are sitting in a tank.

One says to the other, “I’ll drive. You fire the canon.”

Q: Why can’t a bicycle stand up without a kickstand?

A: Because it’s two tired.

One atom says to another atom, “Oh no! I just lost an electron!”

The other atoms says, “Are you sure?”

The first atom says, “Yes! I’m positive.”

René Descartes was drinking in a bar. The bartender asked him if wanted another drink.

Descartes said, “I think not.” And then he ceased to exist!!