tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7983372.post2451768898865646105..comments2023-11-05T04:04:12.442-05:00Comments on Short Schrift: Handsome Carmody Dashing GeniusTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13026955797817424956noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7983372.post-32065910116849010682007-12-06T17:16:00.000-05:002007-12-06T17:16:00.000-05:00Another potentially valid use of search results is...Another potentially valid use of search results is to argue for the prevalence of one semantic construction over another -- for example, "unalienable rights" gets about 400,000 results, while "inalienable rights" gets 750,000.Matt Pennimanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05107718011584116486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7983372.post-12890190793385803622007-12-04T18:16:00.000-05:002007-12-04T18:16:00.000-05:00You know, I actually used precisely this method in...You know, I actually used precisely this method in a paper to show that "che guevara t-shirt" is by far more popular than either "mickey mouse t-shirt" or "jesus t-shirt." Unlike Pogue and Consumer Reports, however, I did put my phrases in quotes. That drastically cuts down on the number of results returned, as I have also found when googling statistically improbable-sounding phrases from my students' papers to check for plagiarism. Of course, I wasn't attempting to prove that there are more che guevara t-shirts in the world than mickey mouse t-shirts, or that more money is spent on che swag, just that the che shirt is a significant phenomenon in popular culture.LPShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00361717878410012078noreply@blogger.com