h2g2 Googlewhackers
Created | Updated Jul 6, 2007
Google-whaters?
Googlewhacking is an Internet word game that is very easy to play, but very difficult to master. Google is an Internet search engine; you go to the Google Home Page, type in what you're looking for and, like a faithful hound, Google will run back quick as you like with a whole load of pages that are relevant to what you're looking for. In fact, it's so clever at doing this that lots of people don't 'search the Internet' these days; they go and 'google' it instead.
If you're searching with Google, you can get better results by using more than one word. Imagine you want to know more about tomato plants. You could search for 'tomato', and Google would find you about 38 million pages. You could search for 'plants' and get 178 million. If you typed in 'tomato plants', you'd get closer to what you were looking for, as Google would only find those pages that included both terms. In fact, you'd get less than 1½ million - still a huge amount, but considerably less than if you searched in isolation.
If you're looking for a Googlewhack, you're trying to find two words to type into Google that give you just one page as a result.
The Rules
Genuine Googlewhacks have to meet a few criteria. For a start, you can't put the words into double quotes - if you do this, Google will only search for that exact phrase, and that's far too easy. The official rules also say:
The words must appear in the online dictionary at Answers.com They're easy to find; if they're in, the words will appear underlined in blue in the top right corner of your browser. If they're black and not underlined, they don't count. However injust that may seem at times, that's the rule.
There must be only one result. If you're successful, at the top of the page it will say 'Results 1 - 1 of ([any number].
The page must be a 'proper' webpage. If the page is a list of words or an encyclopedia entry, it won't count.
Words must be between 4 and 30 characters long. Lots of abbreviations appear in the online dictionary, and by combining these and some very long words it's easy to whack at will.
So what are you waiting for? Get whacking!
h2g2 Whackers
If you've found a Googlewhack, you can let us know below. Please check your whack by visiting the Whack Stack before flooding this page with good ideas...
Name and U-Number:
The Words I Used:
This is my ...th whack!
Any Comments:
Official h2g2 Googlewhackers
The following Researchers have had their whack confirmed and added to the Whack Stack:
| Name | Words Used | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Woodpigeon | Ediacaran gerrymandered | h2g2's first whacker! |
| Skankyrich [?] | Intercommunal colosigmoidostomy | Don't share this around... |
| Bagpuss | Floppy quincentenaries | The anniversary didn't stand up |
| Skankyrich [?] | Pawtucket amygdaloids | Geological Red Sox |
| Woodpigeon | Holoprosencephaly macaroon | A sickening biscuit |
| Skankyrich [?] | Nightclubby nettle | A rare nocturnal stinger |
| Skankyrich [?] | Wahhabis trepan | Careful out there - dangerous indoctrination! |
| Skankyrich [?] | vigintillionth pastoral | It's a relaxed life here in Devon |
| Skankyrich [?] | Anaximander stonechats | Philosophical birds |
Happy Whacking!
