Slang is used quite extensively by all of us every day. Similarly slang is used in Google searches and type-in traffic but is highly variable depending on the popularity of the term. One interesting place to look for slang words is the Urban Dictionary which was named one of Time Magazine’s top 50 websites of 2008.
The Urban Dictionary of slang words
The Urban Dictionary is a user driven website where people can enter definitions of slang words. The nice thing is that if you choose to browse you will be shown the most popular slang terms.
I started with browsing the letter A and found aibohphobia. This is defined as the irrational fear of palindromes (words that read the same forwards and backwards).
Example:
Dude 1: Hey, what’s your name?
Dude 2: Bob.
Dude 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs and hides behind sofa*
Bob: Wow.
Dude 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs away and falls down stairs*
Another one that was mentioned in a hit song recently was Apple bottom. This is defined as an ass that has nice, round, plump cheeks. When apple bottom girls wear tight jeans, their ass cheeks bunch up in the bottom of their pants in a way that resembles the bottom of an apple.
So I took these terms and put them into Google Trends
As you can see, aibohphobia has negligible activity whereas apple bottom had some search activity and still has some residual search activity. As always I use “domain names” as a bench mark so trends can be compared.
Here are another couple of examples:
Crunk is a mixture of the word crazy and drunk. “i wanna go to a party and get crunk”
Bling is Jamaican slang that has been adopted by some African American rappers and inserted into popular culture. The term “Bling Bling” refers to the imaginary “sound” that is produced from light reflected by a diamond.
Again I have used “domain names” as a comparator.
So Crunk.com and Bling.com are parked. AppleBottom.com is owned by the brand Applebottoms. Aibohphobia.com is taken but doesn’t resolve. Interestingly other extensions for aibohphobia are also taken.
I have to say I do not own any slang term domains and I do think these are high risk investments because it is hard to predict which one will go hot and also how long it will remain hot. Obviously though there are investors in these domain names out there.
One other trick you can do with the Urban Dictionary is to search using a short piece of a word or term e.g. Bl. If you look in the left column after the search results come up, you will see a list of terms including those letters that you can browse through.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Great Info, the Slang stuff was cool, but the use of Google Trends in this manner was even cooler.
Thanks
Thanks for the comment Kwame. Google trends is as useful as any keyword tool and i think it is underutilized. As always, be aware of the risks in these investments. Happy New Year to all.
I wonder if there is a way to predict mispelled domain names as well, such as fatburgr, or pownce. Either way slang dictionaries. Either way Interesting analysis.
Doc,
Misspellings are difficult because suggestions are often made by the search engines to correct them. Its a fine line between true misspellings and slang.