Comments on: Word frequency charts http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts Connecting people with meaning. Wed, 09 May 2012 19:58:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: GeoVan http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-2048 GeoVan Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:03:22 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-2048 Sorry, didn't finish last post - should be: “Egregious error” is a strong statement, making a mountain of a molehill Sorry, didn’t finish last post – should be: “Egregious error” is a strong statement, making a mountain of a molehill

]]> By: GeoVan http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-2047 GeoVan Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:59:10 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-2047 Rick, while I admire your attention to detail and accuracy, give the site a bit of a break. Oftentimes, this type of work is done on an ad hoc basis by passionate individuals that are taking a break from more onerous and revenue generating work (“real work”) and sharing their interest and whimsy. This is a dynamic and evolving website, not a peer-reviewed scholarly tome. BTW, in the spirit of whimsy, your post prompted me to look up "condescend." A quick glance at the graph led me to the conclusion that you’d favor life in the early 17th or mid 19th century. Hope I got that right. This is a great tool and service and I applaud the team for being open to input. Keep up the good work. Rick, just lighten up. "Egregious error" is a strong. Rick, while I admire your attention to detail and accuracy, give the site a bit of a break. Oftentimes, this type of work is done on an ad hoc basis by passionate individuals that are taking a break from more onerous and revenue generating work (“real work”) and sharing their interest and whimsy. This is a dynamic and evolving website, not a peer-reviewed scholarly tome.

BTW, in the spirit of whimsy, your post prompted me to look up “condescend.” A quick glance at the graph led me to the conclusion that you’d favor life in the early 17th or mid 19th century. Hope I got that right.

This is a great tool and service and I applaud the team for being open to input. Keep up the good work.

Rick, just lighten up. “Egregious error” is a strong.

]]> By: davidjholden http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-2012 davidjholden Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:10:52 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-2012 these frequency estimates are a very interesting study. congratulations! and all the best for future improvements to your database. these frequency estimates are a very interesting study. congratulations! and all the best for future improvements to your database.

]]> By: Will http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1995 Will Sun, 20 Mar 2011 07:46:52 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1995 The "Word frequency charts" is a neat feature, it would've been more helpful if users are allowed to customize the date range. Anyways, I'd say wordnik is pretty good at being creative which certainly adds more fun when users are looking up a word definition. Very impressive, loved it! The “Word frequency charts” is a neat feature, it would’ve been more helpful if users are allowed to customize the date range. Anyways, I’d say wordnik is pretty good at being creative which certainly adds more fun when users are looking up a word definition. Very impressive, loved it!

]]> By: Victor http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1928 Victor Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:40:18 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1928 Hi there, congrats for such a nice API. I'm just wondering which sources did you use to compute the usage of the words over the last 200 years. Cheers! Hi there,

congrats for such a nice API. I’m just wondering which sources did you use to compute the usage of the words over the last 200 years. Cheers!

]]> By: Ellsworth http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1906 Ellsworth Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:20:39 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1906 Jeremy, Gathering such statistics sounds like an invaluable endeavor for wordsmiths and historians alike. Would it be possible to incorporate a search capability on a range of dates? For example, I have a thing for old words that are not yet archaic but are on its way out. Would there be a function to look up those words? Thanks! Jeremy,

Gathering such statistics sounds like an invaluable endeavor for wordsmiths and historians alike.

Would it be possible to incorporate a search capability on a range of dates? For example, I have a thing for old words that are not yet archaic but are on its way out. Would there be a function to look up those words?

Thanks!

]]> By: Rick http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1883 Rick Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:13:54 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1883 It's time: Do you REALLY *READ* these comments for anything other than your corporate Monday morning "fun" and a good laugh? 1- You've been called several times on your claim that "icon" has some occurrence in the "late 21st century". I'm 'curious' about how you go about observing ANYthing in the *future*. It would seem obvious to anyone who parses words and/or phrases that the phrase "late 21st century" would refer to the period of time between 2051 and 2100AD ("inclusive"). One generous commenter offered an "easy out" by suggesting that you really meant "late 20th century". I would also buy-in to that understanding, but nobody seems to be "listening", or if you are, it's obvious that nobody is taking any action on this egregious error in an article that EVERYONE who clicks on this explanatory file must STEP OVER. Come on folks, this kinda stuff in your DISPLAY window gets in EVERYONE's face! 2- Making the "graph" meaningful and *actually* usable: Have you tried logarithmic scales on X, Y, or X AND Y? Adding a numeric marker on the tops of peaks and bottoms of valleys would also be helpful. Check-out the financial market [charts and graphs] reporting of their numeric data for more ideas. This is a really cool idea, and clearly deserves a much more careful application of the proof-reader's talent. -rw It’s time: Do you REALLY *READ* these comments for anything other than your corporate Monday morning “fun” and a good laugh?

1- You’ve been called several times on your claim that “icon” has some occurrence in the “late 21st century”. I’m ‘curious’ about how you go about observing ANYthing in the *future*. It would seem obvious to anyone who parses words and/or phrases that the phrase “late 21st century” would refer to the period of time between 2051 and 2100AD (“inclusive”). One generous commenter offered an “easy out” by suggesting that you really meant “late 20th century”. I would also buy-in to that understanding, but nobody seems to be “listening”, or if you are, it’s obvious that nobody is taking any action on this egregious error in an article that EVERYONE who clicks on this explanatory file must STEP OVER. Come on folks, this kinda stuff in your DISPLAY window gets in EVERYONE’s face!

2- Making the “graph” meaningful and *actually* usable: Have you tried logarithmic scales on X, Y, or X AND Y? Adding a numeric marker on the tops of peaks and bottoms of valleys would also be helpful. Check-out the financial market [charts and graphs] reporting of their numeric data for more ideas.

This is a really cool idea, and clearly deserves a much more careful application of the proof-reader’s talent.

-rw

]]> By: tonytam http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1733 tonytam Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:47:28 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1733 Hi Robert, our data comes from our smartwords partners as well as from select web sites, blogs, and even OCR'd text. We retrieve and process this text with our internal team. It is a lot of work but well worth it. Hi Robert, our data comes from our smartwords partners as well as from select web sites, blogs, and even OCR’d text. We retrieve and process this text with our internal team. It is a lot of work but well worth it.

]]> By: Robert Beard http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1707 Robert Beard Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:06:19 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1707 I would like to know where you get your corpora and how large each of them are. I presume you are using literary texts and that you have 200 or more corpora with several million words each. As the producer of word frequency lists for commercial use, I know that is a tremendous job and would like to know more about how you have accomplished it. I would like to know where you get your corpora and how large each of them are. I presume you are using literary texts and that you have 200 or more corpora with several million words each. As the producer of word frequency lists for commercial use, I know that is a tremendous job and would like to know more about how you have accomplished it.

]]> By: Dolly http://blog.wordnik.com/word-frequency-charts/comment-page-1#comment-1699 Dolly Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:03:20 +0000 http://blog.wordnik.com/?p=511#comment-1699 I'd like to understand sources you use to establish the frequency of word use. It is easy today with the web. But over time, starting from the 1800s, how do you count occurrences? And will using Bayesian help better with earlier occurrences of evidential probability of use? I’d like to understand sources you use to establish the frequency of word use. It is easy today with the web. But over time, starting from the 1800s, how do you count occurrences? And will using Bayesian help better with earlier occurrences of evidential probability of use?

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