[Ads-l] Quote Origin: I Had Exactly Four Seconds To Hot Up the Disintegrator, and Google Had Told Me It Wasn't Enough

[dave@wilton.net]

>The name of the search engine Google was inspired by the enormous

>number googol which is 10^100. Larry Page misspelled the word when he
>selected the name and registered the internet address according to the
>book "In the Plex" by journalist Steven Levy.

I'm sure that's the story they like to tell, but far more likely is that their lawyers suggested changing the spelling because trying to trademark a word in common use can lead to all sorts of legal complications. Defending a uniquely spelled trademark is much easier, which is why you see so many trademarks that are variations on a common word. Either way, Chandler certainly had zip to do with it. (Nor would Chandler's one-off use of the spelling be a serious complication in trademark litigation.)
 

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org