Thursday, 03/06/03

Google's attempt to police use of its trademarked name as a verb yesterday led me to the discovery that "google" is already a word. Not "googol", which is a 1 followed by 100 zeroes, but google, a verb back-formed from googly, which is a 20th-century cricket term meaning a pitched ball exhibiting "break and swerve". "To google" is to throw a googly ball. See Jamie Moyer.

[I came across this fact through an even more seminal discovery: the Seattle Public Library provides cardholder access to the Oxford English Dictionary through its web site. To my great glee, it doesn't even time out after a period of inactivity. If you think this news heralds a brave future for bumppo.net's etymological commentary, then by god, you're quite right.] 11:56AM «

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