Your Most Random Searches

ceenindee · Mar 17, 2010

I know serious research requires a little more footwork than wikipedia, but there are a lot of random little things I've had to look up, and taken out of context, they're kind of funny. It's weird to think they're all from the same story. Some of my most recent ones...

How many ounces in a can of soup?
What's the concealed carry law in Pennsylvania?
Which elements make up brass?
How many players on a field hockey team?
How do you say "man" in Old German?

I'd like to give the my whole search history to someone and see if they could figure out what the heck I'm even writing about.

What are some of the most bizarre things you've had to google for the good of your novel?

(And for anyone who cared to know, the answers are 10, you can conceal a handgun, copper and zinc, 11, and "hom"

)

a_sharp · Mar 17, 2010

Recently my idle MC decided to count the spokes on a bicycle wheel while waiting for his girl. The answer was 28, 32, or 36, but try to count them by just looking without knowing beforehand.

Okay, I'm weird.

TokenRed · Mar 18, 2010

How do you say "man" in Old German?
Lol.
Some of my doozies are

How much paracetamol in pain tablets?
Is it legal to own 4 cats?
Do British teens say 'tryhard'?
Are there any three-headed trolls in mythology?
Google map search 'liquor stores in London?'

brunoshouse · Mar 18, 2010

I always think of this when I am watching a crime drama and the forensic computer investigator finds out the suspect was researching arsenic poisoning. I just pray my hubby dies of natural causes, or my search history could get me into a lot of trouble.

Mr Flibble · Mar 18, 2010

TokenRed said:
Do British teens say 'tryhard'?

not that I'm aware. What does it mean? ETA: looked it up. No. Never heard anyone say that tbh.

Google map search 'liquor stores in London?'

You'd probably have better luck searching 'Off License'

Mine is mostly mythology based. Though looking at my history I did do a search for 'hot Arabic men' ( What? I wanted to find a face for a character << >> Honest.)

How to make springs in a forge

How to hand-make jewellery given limited technology

The effects of brachial plexopathy

'Magic thinking' in psychology.

Ehab.Ahmed · Mar 18, 2010

a_sharp said:
Recently my idle MC decided to count the spokes on a bicycle wheel while waiting for his girl. The answer was 28, 32, or 36, but try to count them by just looking without knowing beforehand.

Okay, I'm weird.

Really? haahaa, that's cool. Anyway, I don't research a lot (basically still at the very beginning of my first novel). But I did research these:
*Concept of time in ancient mythologies.
*Time gods in ancient mythologies (yeah, I know, both are almost the same).
*A way to scientifically stop time (had something to do with little things that are in motion all over the universe and if stopped, the universe will stop, too. It's in standard physics model).
*Types of arrows and their uses.
*Hunting deer.

Midnight Star · Mar 18, 2010

"Can you poison an apple with strychnine?" Is probably my strangest search so far.

shaldna · Mar 18, 2010

people killed by housecats each year.

thethinker42 · Mar 18, 2010

This is just a short list of the things I've had to randomly look up while working on WIPs:

* Hiking trails on Maui
* Driving time from Norfolk, VA to Savannah, GA
* Whether or not alligators are nocturnal
* If it's possible to apply a tattoo to oneself
* How to suture a cut on someone's arm
* Removing and installing a bathroom mirror
* How to do a handstand push-up
* Educational requirements for college professors, biochemists, surgeons, and personal trainers
* How to play a bass guitar
* German words and phrases, particularly of the obscene and insulting variety
* How much blood someone could lose before losing consciousness, and how far that person could drive before crashing
* How badly a person would get hurt if someone smashed various pieces of kitchenware over his neck and shoulder (from bottles to large china serving plates)
* Sexual harassment protocols in corporate America
* All about the amphitheatre at Epidaurus
* Deafness/hearing impairment
* Muay Thai, kickboxing, and boxing
* Effects of strangulation on soft tissue, voice, etc
* Performing a thoracentesis for a tension pneumothorax
* Putting an oxygen mask on someone with a broken nose

If they don't seem weird to you, bear in mind that I write romance and erotica.

xonze · Mar 18, 2010

The only one I remember at the moment, because I searched for it last night is: Can you cry without eyes (as in you lost your eyes)?

Apparently you could if your tear ducts were still intact. Might not run down you face but you could produce tears and they may be trapped in the socket... it's kinda creepy if you keep thinking about it.

Ephrem Rodriguez · Mar 18, 2010

I had to learn Cockney Rhyming Slang. Still makes no sense to me. Funny thing is, you leave off the part that actually rhymes with the word you want to say (most of the time).

Here's a little dictionary and a link to a video wherein people sort of kind of use it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HngRt7guls

Adam and Eve - As in 'I don't Adam and Eve it' - Believe
All Time Loser - Boozer
Apples and Pears - Stairs
Ayrton Senna - Tenner
Bacon and Eggs - Legs
Bag of Fruit - Suit, Flute
Bangers and Mash - Cash
Barney Rubble - Trouble
Battle Cruiser - Boozer
Bees and Honey - Money
Boat Race - Face
Brahms and Liszt - Pissed
Bright and Breezy - Easy
Brown Bread - Dead
Bubble Bath - Laugh
Bubble and Squeak - Greek
Butcher's Hook - Look
Cain and Abel - Table
Cheesey Quaver - Favour
Chicken Curry - Hurry (from Ema)
China Plate - Mate
Cream Crackered - Knackered
Daisy Roots - Boots
Deep Sea Diver - Fiver
Desmond Tutu - Two-two (UK degree result)
Dicky Dirt - Shirt
Dog and Bone - Phone
Douglas Hurd - Third (UK degree result)
Faith and Hope - Soap
Frog and Toad - Road
German Bands - Hands
Gregory Peck - Neck
Half-Inch - Pinch (as in steal)
Hampstead Heath - Teeth
Horse and Cart - Girlfriend (Tart)
Jam Tart - Heart
James Dean - Screen (from Cassie)
Johnny Horner - Corner
Lady Godiva - Fiver (£5)
Lager and Lime - Time
Lionel Blairs - Flairs
Loaf of Bread - Head
Mahatma Ghandi - Brandy
Mince Pies - Eyes
Nelson Mandela - Stella (Artois)
North and South - Mouth
Ones and Twos - Shoes
Pieces of Eight - Weight
Pig's Ear - Beer
Plates and Dishes - Missus (Mrs)
Plates of Meat - Feet
Rabbit and Pork - Talk
Rosy Lee - Tea
Rub a Dub - Pub
Scooby Doo - Clue
Skin and Blister - Sister
Sky Rocket - Pocket
Sweeney Todd - Flying Squad
Trouble and Strife - Wife
Turkish Bath - Laugh
Two and Eight - State
Whistle and Flute - Suit

shaldna · Mar 18, 2010

Ah Ephram. how I would love to say that this is all there is to CRS.

However, there are multiple variations dpending on location and community, and multiple versions of the same phrases etc.

It's a massive subject, and what you've posted is a tiny tiny part of it.

JamieFord · Mar 18, 2010

The one that comes to mind is: Are there any people of Burakumin ancestry interred at Japan's Yasukuni Shrine?

Ephrem Rodriguez · Mar 18, 2010

shaldna said:
Ah Ephram. how I would love to say that this is all there is to CRS.

However, there are multiple variations dpending on location and community, and multiple versions of the same phrases etc.

It's a massive subject, and what you've posted is a tiny tiny part of it.

True. Which is why I wound up abandoning it. :tongue

Aubie · Mar 18, 2010

a hotel and fast food combo off an exit in Richmond,VA..how's that for random!

Jack Newcastle · Mar 18, 2010

Fun thread. Being my work is a period piece set in 1953, there were dozens of little details to be minded:

How a man would go about getting a permanent in the 1950s. (And I did find a post somewhere from an aged transvestite who actually did get one in the 50s)

When did the requirement for NY cabdrivers to display their ID in the taxi begin. (Answer not found, but lo and behold, I was watching a period film and a character asked the driver for his name and hack license)

What would be served to a detainee for dinner and breakfast in a NY city police precinct? (Same as it is now: fluorescent bologna and stale dough-nuts.)

Regards,

Jack

DrZoidberg · Mar 18, 2010

I leapt at the chance to help move a sofa when I found out that also helping was a semi-famous neurologist. I'm writing a book featuring a stroke, so I took my chance. I didn't really learn anything new, but that in itself was invaluable information.

warofthesparks · Mar 18, 2010

Does Diana Ross write her own songs?
Does Tina Turner write her own songs?

Took me only a short while to figure out that both answers are no.

Lady Ice · Mar 18, 2010

How much would it have costed to get a train from London to Berlin in 1987?

Jamesaritchie · Mar 18, 2010

charlotte820 said:
I know serious research requires a little more footwork than wikipedia, but there are a lot of random little things I've had to look up, and taken out of context, they're kind of funny. It's weird to think they're all from the same story. Some of my most recent ones...

How many ounces in a can of soup?
What's the concealed carry law in Pennsylvania?
Which elements make up brass?
How many players on a field hockey team?
How do you say "man" in Old German?

I'd like to give the my whole search history to someone and see if they could figure out what the heck I'm even writing about.

What are some of the most bizarre things you've had to google for the good of your novel?

(And for anyone who cared to know, the answers are 10, you can conceal a handgun, copper and zinc, 11, and "hom" )

Well, yeah, there are ten ounces in a ten ounce can of soup. And fourteen ounces in a fourteen ounce can, and thirty-two ounces in a thirty-two ounce can, and. . .

But a ten ounce can of soup is often measured in weight, so you still don't know how many liquid ounces you have. Most likely about eight, which is just another way of making sonsumers believe they're getting more than they really are.

Anyway, I'm surprised some of my questions haven't brought Homeland Security to my door. Four I can think of are:

Exactly how much uranium or plutonium does it take to produce a chain reaction?

How much powdered plutonium would it take to poison the average resovoir?

Are there common chemicals you can use to build a bomb powerful enough to down an airliner, but small enough to easily conceal?

What is the most vulnerable part of a nuclear power plant?

Jess Haines · Mar 18, 2010

- When and where was the first opera created?

- What was the government system breakdown in Ancient Greece circa appx. 300 B.C.?

- When and where was the first official sign language created?

jruby · Mar 18, 2010

Oooo, love this thread!

brunoshouse said:
I always think of this when I am watching a crime drama and the forensic computer investigator finds out the suspect was researching arsenic poisoning. I just pray my hubby dies of natural causes, or my search history could get me into a lot of trouble.

Lol. Me too! I always think of that when I'm researching stuff for my mystery/thrillers.

Let's see, I can't remember a lot of my searches at the moment, but I do remember a couple:

- The date of the discovery of California and Alaska, and ancient maps to go along with it.
- Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy
- Drugs that can mimic death and how long you can stay "dead" before you actually do die.
- Immortality, including recent scientific developments, cryostasis and who came up with the idea for cryostasis, and the oldest living person on record

FalconStorm · Mar 18, 2010

Oh, boy, I've done some weird ones...let's see...

Does ground up glass in food really act as a poison?

What are the symptoms/result of chronic, severe hypertension?

How far can you comfortably travel in a day on the back of a horse?

Can you still hear if there is a local anesthetic injected to numb your ears?

Are purple eyes possible with existing genetics?

And a bunch of questions on how much blood can be lost before passing out/death, how quickly it's restored, how long it takes puncture wounds to heal... Yes. I write about vampires. Leave me alone. *smile*

Matera the Mad · Mar 18, 2010

Migration patterns of mammoths.

Northern range of non-domesticated swine.

Libbie · Mar 18, 2010

Oh, boy. Somewhere I keep track of this, but off the top of my head:

-How women dealt with menstruation in Egypt 3500 years ago
-How often it rains in the vicinity of Thebes, Egypt, and whether it's plausible that a person living in the area could reach nineteen or so without ever seeing rain
-What colors of horses were used in Egypt
-How to put on traditional New Kingdom Egyptian clothing
-What perfumes in ancient Egypt were made from
-Whether it's possible to turn a meteorite into a metal tool
-How to put on a knickerbocker suit, and ladies' undergarments of the Victorian era (obviously not for the same novel!)
-How to pick Victorian locks
-How to hide Victorian lock picks on one's person
-How to escape from a straight jacket (it's easy!)

Good times. Good times.

Your Most Random Searches

Somebody give me an A

When in doubt, mumble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

Drifting Silently

We are once in a lifetime.

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Abnormal Romance Author

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

giving resonant directions

Live and let live

Certified Malcontent

aka TomOfSweden

I know what happened to Baby Jane.

Makes useful distinctions

Boldly going nowhere in particular.

Procrastinator Extraordinaire!

just came home

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Worst song played on ugliest guitar