Google Hacks

Specialized Vocabularies: Slang and Terminology

Your choice of words can make a big difference to the search results you get with Google.

When a teenager says something is “phat,” that’s slang—a specialized vocabulary for a certain section of the world culture. When a copywriter scribbles “stet” on an ad, that’s not slang, but it’s still specialized vocabulary for a certain section of the world culture—in this case, the advertising industry.

We have distinctive speech patterns that are shaped by our educations, our families, and where we live. Further, we may use another set of words based on our occupation.

Being aware of these specialty words can make all the difference in the world when it comes to searching. Adding specialized words to your search query—whether slang or industry vocabulary—can really change the slant of your search results.

Slang

Slang gives you one more way to break up your search engine results into geographically distinct areas. There’s some geographical blurriness when you use slang to narrow your search engine results, but it’s amazing how well it works. For example, search Google for football. Now search for football bloke. Totally different results set, isn’t it? Now search for football bloke bonce. Now you’re into soccer narratives.

Of course, this is not to say that everyone in England automatically uses the word “bloke” any more than everyone in the southern U.S. automatically uses the word “y’all.” But adding well-chosen bits of slang (which will ...