487-2398
Category: Books & Writing...
Posted Wednesday, July 28, 2004 at 08:42 AM [GMT-6]

No, the subject line is not a phone number...but it is a quiz, albeit a rather easy one.

Rob over at Snippets has returned to blogging after a month-long sabbatical, and he's uncovered a wonderful site called Word Count. This website shows the most commonly used 88,600 words in an unusual graphic format, ranked by their frequency of use. From the site:

WordCount™ is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonality. Each word is scaled to reflect its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. The larger the word, the more we use it. The smaller the word, the more uncommon it is.

WordCount is singularly British, and thus is sadly lacking in some of the more important vocabulary of Texas. I could find no reference to "ya'll," "fajita'" or even "honcho." And, really, when was the last time you used the word "lorry" (#5766) in a sentence, other than as a misspelling of the country singer's name? Nevertheless, it's great fun for anyone who enjoys wordplay. Rob has suggested a couple of ways to use the site in "games" mode; use your imagination and you'll find yourself wasting copious amounts of time chasing down trivia that only a blogger could love.

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Comments

Eric-- I hadn't thought of its application to Texas trivia. Great idea! Another way to wile away some good work time. And thanks for the reference (credit where credit is due: WordCount.org was Yahoo's site of the day yesterday, July 27).

Posted by: Rob at July 28, 2004 10:21 AM

Eric - great game idea

texan - 24805

redneck - 75359

beer - 2926 - between switch and defendant - makes you go hummm....

Posted by: shannon at July 28, 2004 12:47 PM
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