The size of things: an ngram experiment
By colin_morris
Category: Science
What did writers use to describe size before phones and credit cards existed? I mined the Google Books Ngram dataset to map size analogies in English books from 1800 to 2008. See why "the size of a pea" stays top, how nature references yield to sports and household comparisons, and view the century by century top 20 with methods.
Rolly's Take
This blog invites the curious mind, those who revel in the beauty of language and the subtle shifts of cultural context over time. It speaks to readers who find joy in dissecting the familiar, exploring how our references to size reflect an evolving relationship with the world around us. For those who delight in the intersections of history, literature, and the quirks of everyday comparisons, there’s a treasure trove of insights waiting to be uncovered. It captures the fascination with how our understanding of scale transforms, revealing a narrative that is both playful and profoundly telling.