Searching for Words: Your Ngram Questions

Recently, Kurt Andersen talked with the research scientists who partnered with Google to develop the Ngram Viewer. The Ngram Viewer sifts through millions of digitized books and documents, looking for patterns in word usage across centuries. Kurt asked for listeners’ suggestions for Ngram queries, and we got dozens of interesting results.

Juan Martinez wanted to test an assertion by Vladimir Nabokov that Lolita, the name of his scandalous novel, had become more famous (or infamous) than he would ever be. Kurt called Martinez to discuss his findings — scroll down to see them, and other interesting Ngrams run by Studio 360 listeners.

Juan Martinez's Ngram comparing "Vladimir Nabokov" and "Lolita"

Another Ngram Martinez created comparing "Nabokov" and "Lolita"

Mark Lounsbury's Ngram for "apocalypse"

Magreve's Ngram for "at this point in time"

Moji Shabi's Ngram for "girls with guns"

An Ngram comparing the use of blue, red, orange, green, purple, teal, and pink
(Lines appear in corresponding colors)