Googlewhack
From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, by MultiMedia
A Googlewhack is a query consisting of two words
(with no quote marks) entered into Google's search page that returns a
single result. Googlewhacking is the pastime of finding such a
result. A person attempting to find Googlewhacks is known as a
Googlewhacker.
History
The game first appeared on the web at the UnBlinking site on
8 January 2001. The person who coined the term "Googlewhacking" was Gary
Stock. A person finding a googlewhack can add it to The Whack Stack at
googlewhack.com. (Google does not operate this site, although they are aware
of it and approve.)
A predecessor of Googlewhacking was Net Bullseye , which was created by
Harold Chaput in 1997 and used the AltaVista search engine. Net Bullseye was
disbanded in 2000, and there is no evidence that the creators of
Googlewhacking were aware of its existence.
A more detailed history of Googlewhack can be found at Googlewhacking: The
googlewhack.com/rules.htm Googlewhack rules:
-
No quotes or other punctuation in the search terms.
-
The words must be linked from the Google result page to
answers.com.
-
The found page must be a real article and not a list of
words.
Some fans of the craze have gone so far as create
tools that will
automatically find Googlewhacks, though some consider use of such
tools
unsportsmanlike and should be against the rules.
Cultural References
Since 2003, British comedian Dave Gorman has toured Britain,
France, Australia, Canada and the United States with a show entitled Dave
Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure, and published a book of the same name. These
were based on a true story. While attempting to write a novel for his
publisher (Random House) Dave became obsessed with Googlewhacks and traveled
across the world finding people who had authored them. Although he never
wrote his novel, he did eventually write a book about his Googlewhack
adventure which went on to be a Sunday Times #1 best seller in the UK and
has also been published in the U.S. and Canada. A translation is in the
works for Japan.
Some of the googlewhacks used by Dave Gorman in his book are:
-
francophile namesakes
-
dork turnspit
-
unconstructive superegos
-
bibliophilic sandwiched
-
dripstone ingles
Googlewhack Lexicon
Googlewhackers have developed their own vocabulary to
describe the game, inventing most of it early in Googlewhack history (2002
to early 2003).
Terms commonly used on The Whack Stack:
uniwhack
(circa 2002) "uni" for short. A single word returning exactly one result
on Google. In contrast to the recent coinage Googlewhackblatt (never in
common use, see New Scientist reference below), a uni always links to a
definition from Google and therefore is considered a real, whackable word.
octowhack
"octo" for short. A Googlewhack comprised of two words each four letters
in length. The shortest legal whack at Googlewhack.
poaching
Using a recently whacked word (as found in the Whack Stack) as a whack
factor in a Googlewhack. Occasionally referred to as "hopscotching".
fubawl
An acronym for "f—ed up by a word list." An otherwise valid Googlewhack
except that it is a word list.
ibawl
irritated by a word list. A single valid whack is returned by Google
among any number of word lists.
googleLACK
Consecutive Googlewhacks derived from a single page on the internet. The
Googlewhack form of "cherry picking" as per the Whack Faq
googleNACK
(Negative ACKnowledgements) Describes the "cleaner girl" bug in Google's
search algorithm where "results 1-1 of thousands" were returned for two
relatively common words. Further details can be found at: Googlewhack NACK!
Terms rarely used on The Whack Stack:
nullwhack
Until Google changed its definition links to answers.com in early 2005,
definition links were to dictionary.com. A nullwhack (never in common use on
the Googlewhack site) is a single word defined in dictionary.com that
returned zero results in Google. Since the change to answers.com, the status
of nullwhacks has been indeterminable.
whack triangle
Three words which all "interwhack" each other, resulting in three
Googlewhacks. Where each letter represents a unique word, the three
Googlewhacks in a triangle would consist of: ab, bc, ca.
whack square
Similar to the whack triangle, except four words must all interwhack
each other, resulting in six total Googlewhacks: ab, ac, ad, bc, bd, cd.
polywhack
Describes any set of Googlewhacks where all whack factors interwhack,
including whack triangle and squares. The highest recorded polywhack
consisted of seven words, for a total of 21 Googlewhacks.
fuflop
f'd up for lack of plural. An otherwise valid Googlewhack except that
one of the factors is a valid plural unlinked by Google to a definition.
Since Google has changed definition linking to answers.com, this has largely
disappeared. Prior to using answers.com, plurals of common words such
"vegetables" and "ambulances" did not link to a definition, while the
singular form of the word did.
fuflos
f'd up for lack of singular. The converse of fuflop, where the singular
form of a word is not linked from Google to a definition while the plural
is.
Problems
A problem/dilemma arises when a person finds a Googlewhack
and subsequently reports it somewhere on the web: the Googlewhack will no
longer be viable, as the page where it is reported will probably be indexed
by Google, rendering the Googlewhack obsolete.
Example: As of March 3, 2005, the search "adieu halitosi" produced only one
result: (Although it now returns more matches, one of which is this
article, the rest mirrors.) "Adieu halitosi" is not a true googlewhack,
though, because "halitosi" does not link to answers.com. However, by virtue
of its inclusion in this article, "Ouagadougou pachycephalosaur" became a
googlewhack, until it too was spread to other Wikipedia mirrors.
Variations
More recently the Feedback section of the magazine New
Scientist has discussed the idea of a Googlewhackblatt, which is similar to
a Googlewhack however it involves finding a single word that produces only
one google result. Lists of these have become available, but as with
Googlewhacks they result in the Googlewhackblatt status of the word being
destroyed - unless the word doesn't produce any Google results before it is
added to the list, thus forming the Googlewhackblatt Paradox. Those words
that do not produce any Google search results at all are known as
Antegooglewhackblatts before they are listed - and subsequently elevated to
Googlewhackblatt status.
Feedback stories are also available on the New Scientist website, thus
resulting in the destruction of any existing Googlewhackblatts that are ever
printed in the magazine. Antegooglewhackblatts that are posted on the
Feedback website become known as Feedbackgooglewhackblatts as their
Googlewhackblatt status is created.
In addition, New Scientist has more recently discovered another way to
obtain a googlewhackblatt without falling into the Googlewhackblatt Paradox.
One can write the googlewhackblatt on a website, but backwards, and then
search on elgoog to view the list properly while
still keeping the googlewhackblatt's status as a googlewhackblatt.
It is important to note that in contrast to Googlewhacks, many
Googlewhackblatts, Aryascoomiegooglewhacks and Antegooglewhackblatts are
nonsense words that cannot presently and probably will never be found in a
dictionary.
External links
Google Guide made by MultiMedia | Free content and software
This guide is licensed under the GNU
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