Google (verb)

{{about|the verb|the use of the verb in cricket|Googly|other uses|Google (disambiguation)}}

{{redirect|Googled|the book of the same name|Googled: The End of the World as We Know It}}

Owing to the dominance of the Google search engine,{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Enid |date=June 19, 2007 |url=http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3626208 |title=Top 10 Search Providers, April 2007 |publisher=SearchEngineWatch.com |access-date=August 11, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825045618/http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3626208 |archive-date=August 25, 2007 }} to google has become a transitive verb.{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/google |title=Google - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=September 19, 2011}} The neologism commonly refers to searching for information on the World Wide Web, typically using the Google search engine.{{cite web|url=http://www.thelinguafile.com/2013/02/how-google-became-verb.html |title=How Google Became a Verb |publisher=The Lingua File - The Language Blog |access-date=November 22, 2013}} The American Dialect Society chose it as the "most useful word of 2002".{{cite web |date=January 13, 2003 |url=http://www.americandialect.org/index.php/amerdial/2002_words_of_the_y/ |title=2002 Words of the Year |publisher=American Dialect Society |access-date=August 11, 2007 }} It was added to the Oxford English Dictionary on June 15, 2006,{{Cite web |last=Bylund |first=Anders |date=2006-07-05 |title=To Google or Not to Google |url=https://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2006/07/05/to-google-or-not-to-google.aspx |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=The Motley Fool |language=en}} and to the eleventh edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in July 2006.{{cite web |author=Harris, Scott D. |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/14985574.htm |title=Dictionary adds verb: to google |work=San Jose Mercury News |date=July 7, 2006 |access-date=July 7, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206065348/http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/14985574.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2007 |url-status=dead}}

Etymology

The first recorded usage of google was as a gerund, on July 8, 1998, by Google co-founder Larry Page himself, who wrote on a mailing list: "Have fun and keep googling!".{{cite web |last=Page |first=Larry |author-link=Larry Page |date=July 8, 1998 |url=http://www.egroups.com/group/google-friends/3.html |title=Google Search Engine: New Features |publisher=Google Friends Mailing List |access-date=August 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991009052012/http://www.egroups.com/group/google-friends/3.html |archive-date=October 9, 1999 }} Its earliest known use as an explicitly transitive verb on American television was in the "Help" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (October 15, 2002), when Willow asked Buffy, "Have you googled her yet?".{{Cite book |title=Digital Wars: Apple, Google, Microsoft and the Battle for the Internet |last=Arthur |first=Charles |year=2012 |publisher=Kogan Page Publishers |page=[https://archive.org/details/digitalwarsapple0000arth/page/48 48] |isbn=978-0-7494-6413-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/digitalwarsapple0000arth |url-access=registration |access-date=January 2, 2013 }}

To prevent genericizing and potential loss of its trademark, Google has discouraged use of the word as a verb, particularly when used as a synonym for general web searching. On February 23, 2003,{{cite web|last=McFedries |first=Paul |date=February 23, 2003 |url=http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0302D&L=ads-l&P=R2450 |title=Google trademark concerns |publisher=American Dialect Society Mailing List |access-date=August 11, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703124408/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0302D&L=ads-l&P=R2450 |archive-date=July 3, 2007 }} Google sent a cease and desist letter to Paul McFedries, creator of Word Spy, a website that tracks neologisms.{{Cite news |last=Duffy |first=Jonathan |date=2003-06-20 |title=Google calls in the 'language police' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3006486.stm |access-date=2024-04-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} In an article in The Washington Post, Frank Ahrens discussed the letter he received from a Google lawyer that demonstrated "appropriate" and "inappropriate" ways to use the verb "google".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401536.html|title=So Google Is No Brand X, but What Is 'Genericide'?|author=Frank Ahrens|date=August 5, 2006|access-date=August 5, 2006|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

It was reported that, in response to this concern, lexicographers for the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary turned to lowercase the actual entry of the word, google. And, they maintained the capitalization of the search engine in their definition, "to use the Google search engine to seek online information" (a concern which did not deter the Oxford editors from preserving the history of both "cases").{{Cite web |last=Noon |first=Chris |date=July 6, 2006 |title=Brin, Page See 'Google' Take Its Place In Dictionary |url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/07/06/page-brin-google-cx_cn_0706autofacescan01.html |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}} On October 25, 2006, Google sent a request to the public requesting that "You should please only use 'Google' when you're actually referring to Google Inc. and our services."{{cite web |last=Krantz |first=Michael |date=October 25, 2006 |url=https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/do-you-google.html |title=Do you "Google?" |publisher=The Official Google Blog |access-date=August 11, 2007 }}

{{vanchor|Ungoogleable}} means it is something that cannot be "googled"{{Snd}}i.e. it cannot be easily found using a web search engine, especially Google.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21956743 | title=Who, What, Why: What is 'ungoogleable'? | publisher=BBC |work=BBC News Magazine | date=March 27, 2013 | access-date=April 5, 2013 }} If a word or phrase is ungoogleable, it means it cannot be googled. In 2013, the Swedish Language Council attempted to include the Swedish version of the word ({{ill|Ogooglebar|sv|lt={{lang|sv|Ogooglebar|cat=no}}}}) in its list of new words, but Google objected to the definition not being specifically related to Google, and the council was forced to remove it immediately to avoid a legal confrontation with Google.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21944834 | title=Google gets ungoogleable off Sweden's new word list | first=Sean | last=Fanning | publisher=BBC | work=BBC News | date=March 26, 2013 | access-date=April 5, 2013 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ungoogleable-removed-from-list-of-swedish-words-after-row-over-definition-with-google-8550096.html | title='Ungoogleable' removed from list of Swedish words after row over definition with Google: California based search engine giant asked Swedish to amend definition | first=Rob | last=Williams | newspaper=The Independent | date=March 26, 2013 | access-date=April 5, 2013 }}

References

Category:Google

Category:Verbs

Category:Internet terminology

Category:Internet search

Category:1998 neologisms

Category:Internet properties established in 1998

Google (verb)

Etymology

See also

References