The Google of (fill in the blank)

[englishstudent]

First "google" became a verb. And now this:
http://tinyurl.com/2fsv4o

[BobK]

I imagine this term was coined on the analogy of the BE idiom "the Rolls Royce of" (referring to an iconic high-quality motor car brand). Google shows "Google of" as outnumbering "Rolls Royce of" by about 3 hits to 2; but that corpus is rather biased. . BNC has "the Rolls Royce of" outnumbering "the Google of" by 4 hits to 0. And even Google, if restricted to UK pages, shows RR as outnumbering G.

b

[englishstudent]

Originally Posted by BobK

I imagine this term was coined on the analogy of the BE idiom "the Rolls Royce of" (referring to an iconic high-quality motor car brand). Google shows "Google of" as outnumbering "Rolls Royce of" by about 3 hits to 2; but that corpus is rather biased. . BNC has "the Rolls Royce of" outnumbering "the Google of" by 4 hits to 0. And even Google, if restricted to UK pages, shows RR as outnumbering G.

b

I had not thought of "the Rolls Royce of" but rather, "the Cadillac of". ;)
After reading your comparison above, I just checked for "the Cadillac of"
and Google shows 10 million for it versus about 5.6 for "the Rolls Royce of".

[BobK]

On UK pages only:

Results 1 - 10 of about 365 for "the Cadillac of".
Results 1 - 10 of about 33,800 for "the Rolls Royce of".

Arrivistes

b

[englishstudent]

Originally Posted by BobK

On UK pages only:

Results 1 - 10 of about 365 for "the Cadillac of".
Results 1 - 10 of about 33,800 for "the Rolls Royce of".

Arrivistes

b

Oh, I see. :)

I learned a new word today (arrivistes).
The meaning listed is "1. A person who has recently attained high position or great power but not general acceptance or respect; an upstart."
I want to confirm that I understand it correctly. Do you mean RR is the
arrivistes (in the context of the UK pages)? Sorry about being so thickheaded.

[BobK]

No, I was suggesting (jokingly - honest...) that Americans were - in that they coined 'the Cadillac of' on the analogy of 'the Rolls Royce of' and then spread 'their' phrase throughout the www (in spite of the superior engineering of the British car).



b

Another word to add to the list of words you've learnt today: chauvinist
chauvinism, chauvinist, chauvinistic. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993

[englishstudent]

Originally Posted by BobK

No, I was suggesting (jokingly - honest...) that Americans were - in that they coined 'the Cadillac of' on the analogy of 'the Rolls Royce of' and then spread 'their' phrase throughout the www (in spite of the superior engineering of the British car).



b

Another word to add to the list of words you've learnt today: chauvinist
chauvinism, chauvinist, chauvinistic. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993

OK. Thanks for explaining. Sorry about spoiling your joke.