Jonathan Taylor writes:

There's been a lot of fun lately looking at Google's search query completion suggestions (what's the better phrase for those?). With the hullaballoo about Google in China, I realized I hadn't yet seen comparisons of these searches across international Google sites. To wit: Here's what comes up on Google.com.hk (Hong Kong) when you type in "why" (in English):

Um, are you ready for the U.S. site's questions? (continued)

Pollux writes:

“Don’t take it as a matter of course,” the Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote, “but as a remarkable fact, that pictures and fictitious narratives give us pleasure, occupy our minds.”

Christ, what an asshole!

I refer not to Wittgenstein, but to a universal caption that could be applied to all New Yorker cartoons in the magazine’s caption contest. Emily wrote on the phenomenon when it made its appearance in cyberspace.

As scientifically demonstrated by Charles Lavoie, “Christ, What an Asshole!” can be applied to multiple New Yorker cartoons without sacrificing their humor or coherence.

The caption seems to work, creating a fictitious and humorous narrative. Perhaps it’s the shock value of using profanity for classic New Yorker cartoons, or the fact that it exposes their basic formula: a bizarre figure or situation amidst a normal, workaday one.

“Christ, What an Asshole!” gives us pleasure and occupies our minds. (continued)