Modernism and postmodernism: an interesting Google search

ID:183133
 
Oct 14 2007, 4:20 pm
#1 Oct 14 2007, 4:35 pm
I don't get it...
#2 Oct 14 2007, 4:54 pm
In response to Dession (#1)
nor i..
#3 Oct 14 2007, 5:31 pm
Try banana/bananana/banananana/etc.
#4 Oct 14 2007, 6:11 pm
In response to Jp (#3)
http://www.google.com/search?q=banana
-about 50,600,000 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=bananana
-about 73,900 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=banananana
-about 28,000 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=bananananana
-about 886 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=banananananana
-about 4,020 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=bananananananana
-about 11,400 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=banananananananana
-about 1,090 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=bananananananananana
-about 4,500 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=banananananananananana
-about 470 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=bananananananananananana
-about 307 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=banananananananananananana
-about 190 results
http://www.google.com/search?q=bananananananananananananana
-about 308 results
http://www.google.com/ search?q=banananananananananananananana
-about 170 results
#5 Oct 14 2007, 6:15 pm
In response to PirateHead (#4)
I still don't get it.
#6 Oct 14 2007, 6:16 pm
In response to PirateHead (#4)
"na", used twice while spelling banana, is regarded as effective communication; three or four times seem to be popular misspellings or popular attempts at humour. Other peaks are seen at seven or nine times, as superlatives of the three or four incarnations. Evidently it is widely considered lame to use only "na" only five times, and this researcher proposes that it takes far too long to type "na" more than nine times.
#7 Oct 14 2007, 8:48 pm
In response to PirateHead (#6)
Here's another weird spike...

aiee 345,000
aieee 261,000
aieeee 46,600
aieeeee 25,900
aieeeeee 13,000
aieeeeeee 31,800
aieeeeeeee 11,100
aieeeeeeeee 5,250

#8 Oct 15 2007, 7:35 am
In response to Gughunter (#7)
Gughunter wrote:
Here's another weird spike...

aiee 345,000
aieee 261,000
aieeee 46,600
aieeeee 25,900
aieeeeee 13,000
aieeeeeee 31,800
aieeeeeeee 11,100
aieeeeeeeee 5,250

I have a rule: in any word which has a variable number of repeated characters, I always choose five characters.

For instance:

Ahhhhh!
Aieeeee!
Aaaaagh!
Aooooogah!
Oooooh!
Ohhhhh!

...Hey, get that white jacket away from me. Where are you taking me? Help! Hel--
#9 Oct 15 2007, 8:10 am
In response to Jtgibson (#8)
Nah, I don't think that's too crazy... There's a certain point where this sort of thing is the most aesthetically pleasing... There's a point somewhere between where your brain would think "why'd they bother?" (like "aiee") and "holy cow, that's too many!" (like "aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"), where it is the most comfortable with the number of repeated characters...

There is probably some leeway from person to person on what this number is, and indeed it likely varies from word to word, character to character, and even based on usage (an "aieeeee" used for a fall could be extended by many more E's to signify a longer fall)

But in general, I'd agree that 5 seems like a decent point for most applications (though I tend to wing it and stop whenever I think it seems right, rather than sticking to a consciously chosen limit)

Apparently, though, according to Google, a popular choice seems to lie with 7 E's for this word... I discount the validity of the highest results, though, for a couple of reasons:

1) AIEE shows up in numerous results as an acronym, so does AIEEE...

2) Google seems to also show some results containing the longer forms in the results for the shorter ones, because it pulls out the short one as a fragment of the longer (EX "aieee" is included in the results for "aiee"), thus artificially inflating the results for the shorter forms...

So it is my guess that people using it with the express intent of an interjection lie mostly in the results from aieeee and down (though some of them certainly fall in with the shorter forms), with a large number concluding that 4 E's is correct, and another large chunk going with 7... The results in-between are likely just mistakes or poor judgement...lol
#10 Oct 15 2007, 8:40 am
In response to SuperSaiyanGokuX (#9)
I think this entire thread stands as eternal proof that we all need to get out of the house.
#11 Oct 15 2007, 8:44 am
#12 Oct 15 2007, 8:47 am
In response to Gughunter (#7)
#13 Oct 15 2007, 9:35 am
In response to Jtgibson (#10)
Eeeeep!

You don't mean entering that place out there with spotty internet access and all of that...light, do you?
#14 Oct 15 2007, 12:21 pm
In response to SuperSaiyanGokuX (#13)
I can see that you prefer a postpostpostmodernist lifestyle.
#15 Oct 15 2007, 2:08 pm
In response to PirateHead (#14)
If you try "wee" and add an "e" each time, it will keep going down to hundreds, then up to thousands again.