Google Popularity Checker
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I had the idea of using Google to check the popularity of words and expressions. I originally intended it as a spelling or grammar checker, but it occurred to me that there are quite a few other possible uses.
The implementation is now online and available at http://po-ru.com/checker/. I’m not sure whether I’m in violation of Google’s terms of service or not; if I am then I suppose that they’ll ask me to stop! For the meantime, however, it’s interesting and useful.
As an example, try these queries:
- American vs. British spelling
- Tricky French genders (Note that Google ignores accents in French words.)
- The unpopularity of various nations
- Controversial placenames
- Ill-conceived newspeak
- ...And finally, the perils of phonetic orthography