Google’s Obscure Literary Reference for Valentine’s Day? The Googe?
Posted in Web on February 14th, 2007 by Eric Franklin
I don’t know if any of you have happened to see the Google customized logo for today but it looks distinctly like it’s missing the letter “l.” Knowing Google’s penchant for obscure mathematical, scientific, and literary references, I did a search on the word “Googe.” Sure enough, I got a wikipedia entry for Barnabe Googe, a 16th century poet mostly famous for the following line:
I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Update: Think this is nifty? Please go digg it so more people learn about it! Share the love on Valentine’s Day!
Update #2: It was just pointed out to me by one of my friends (thanks, Derek) that there’s another, even more direct reference for the day in here - Debbie Googe of “My Bloody Valentine!” Nice find, D!
Update #3: Perhaps we are reading too much subtlety into the Google design. Google’s own blog now has a post stating that “those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately.” I still like Derek and my interpretation better so neener neener!
Update #4: And now the disgusting ones from Urban Dictionary via the comment thread from the UK Register article. Warning - these are not “safe” and explicitly reference sexual practices in a “coarse” manner. And this whole post started so innocently!
February 14th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Good lord. That is a sad line of poetry.
“I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die”???
Hey nerds, if this speaks to you, just go and talk to her already!
February 14th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I can’t agree with you more. If this link is intentional on behalf of geekdom at Google, I think it speaks volumes!
February 14th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
[…] Egad. At least I can chortle at Google’s inability to spell their own name. Turrah chucks! […]
February 14th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
good research! not to sure if this is what they meant by it but i agree with you that this explanation is better!!
http://digg.com/design/550_HQ_Nature_Wallpapers
February 14th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
[…] info: Google’s Obscure Literary Reference for Valentine’s Day? Trackback Wednesday, February 14, 200710:54am […]
February 14th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Jesus- GIVE IT A REST! You are wrong! Google is spelled right! Did you fail Inglish Klass? Loot @ it! http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/14/happy_vaentines_day/
February 14th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
The L is made of chocolate
February 14th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
[…] The Puget News decided to do a quick bit of research into ‘Googe’ to determine whether this was a mistake or not, and they discovered the following: ‘Googe’ may refer to the 16th century poet Barnabe Goorge who is mostly famous for the line, ‘I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die’ which is obviously in the romantic, Valentine’s spirit ‘Googe’ could be a reference to bassist Debbie Googe of My Bloody Valentine, an Irish-British rock band from the early 1990’s. Lastly, it could be referring to the word ‘Googe’ as used in the Urban Dictionary. Warning: possibly NSFW, and just nasty anways… […]
February 14th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
ahhhhh at the Urban Dictionary references
February 14th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I just googed myself……………….
February 14th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
This is stupid. The “L” is clearly the stem of the strawberry. Those of you looking into it too much are the nerds.
February 14th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
How about someone explaining why we look into the google header as if it was the dead sea scrolls?
I appreciate anyones interest in knowledge and obscure references, but damn… how much time (and money) do you think this wastes in conjecture and discussion? OMG - I’m posting! - another $10 down the crapper for the parent company.
Quick, everyone jump on myspace at work.
–N
February 14th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
The L is missing. You can compare other Valentine logos that Google has done and you’ll see that the L is always there. The stem of the strawberry is really the “ear” of the lower-case “g.” Any graphic designer who studied typography would know.
February 14th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
If found another definition:
http://www.meshsf.com/blog3/2007/02/14/googe-valentines-day-logo/
February 14th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
[…] UPDATE: Thanks to Rick for this link to some interesting takes on the logo. […]
February 14th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Look at the chocolate on the berry, it is HEART! Smooth
February 14th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
This is dumb. THE STEM IS THE L YOU GEEKS!!!! :-p
February 14th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Well in Columbus, Ohio - the reference sent MANY of us to the LOCAL Anthony-Thomas Company for Chocolate Strawberries.
I am sure Anthony-Thomas is very happy with google currently . . . .
February 14th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
[…] Update - It looks like this may be an obscure literary reference. I’m not sure if I believe it. […]
February 14th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I got the MBV reference from Reddit[1], so no credit is due
1.
February 14th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I think the “G” and the “L” are mixed together, like a couple in love
It’s so simpler
February 14th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Don’t forget about Debbie Googe !!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Googe
February 14th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
The line of poetry is not sad nor pathetic. It’s just meant as love at first sight. Very sweet.
February 14th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
The “L” is represented by the stem of the strawberry.
February 14th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
[…] Still, bloggers have been Digging around trying to find a hidden meaning to this mis-hap. One blogger thinks he has found the solution: I don’t know if any of have happened to see the Google customized logo for today but it looks distinctly like it’s missing the letter “l.” Knowing Google’s penchant for obscure mathematical, science, and literary references, I did a search on the word “Googe.” Sure enough, I got a wikipedia entry for Barnabe Googe, a 16th century poet mostly famous for the following line: […]
February 14th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Geez people, the chocolate is the g and the stem on strawberry is the L. Quit reading too much into things.
February 14th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Word from http://lovelisa.vox.com/library/post/no-l-for-love.html is this:
THIS JUST IN - It appears that the L in GOOGLE’s logo (which our sources tell us stands for the word “Love” in the acronym of GOOGLE) has taken the day off… Our sources explain that since this is the actual DAY of LOVE, he requests this particular day off every year.
February 14th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
bk, I don’t know how clear a half-letter is, although I do agree that the frantic wikipedia searches smack of nerdiness.
February 14th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
The stem looks sort of… phallic. And the chocolate covered strawberry? Don’t get me started about that! That sort of looks like a poo covered boob. Romance indeed! More like filth and debauchary! *snicker*
February 14th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Sounds like that james blunt song he wrote when he was high or something heh
February 14th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
The esoteric research is good and all, but it’s pretty clear to see that the chocolate heart is the G and the strawberry’s stem is the L.
February 14th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Look at the chocolate swirl: An upside-down “e” preceeded by an “o”, and maybe (with enough or too much imagination) a “v”: l-o-v-e
And of course you should have “googled” for “googe” to find the poets….
February 14th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
maybe the L and G are “in love” and are united. represented with the stem, strawberry, and chocolate…sounds kind freaky i now. but maybe that is all it is.
the unification of the L and G simply because its valentines and they are in love. nothing obscure about it.
February 14th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
The G and the L are kissing, making out. Are you people dense?
February 14th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Haha, I didn’t even notice the “l” was missing. I guess I don’t pay much attention to the little flourishes that Google adds on their logo around holidays.
February 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
its either reference to poet Googe or then it’s bad design. How do we know for sure it’s bad design? Because half of the people insist that there is no L-letter included.
Personally i have no idea how people can see letter L there, why on earth it would be on top of G, its a frikkin stem of a strawberry! You don’t combine stem with strawberry, strawberrys include the stem by default, as some people here insist that combining letters G and L to make them look like a strawberry is somehow “easy to see”.
February 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
[…] But this other guy points it out that there’s a poet named Barnabe Googe, who’s known for some cheesy lines. Some other think it’s the artist’s boo-boo. […]
February 14th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I’m surprised not everyone can see it. I guess it’s like those 3D eye things, or those psychological tests where you either see a cup or two people facing each other. As soon as I looked at it, I saw a “G” made out of chocolate and then an L, the vertical line starts with the stem and moves down, and the horizontal line moves out in the chocolate.
Isn’t it obvious?
February 14th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
[…] Google’s obscure literary reference for Valentine’s Day? Filed under: Uncategorized — recar @ 9:59 pm Google’s obscure literary reference for Valentine’s Day? Did anybody notice today’s “Google” logo? Doesn’t it look like “Googe”? I did some very brief digging and found an obscure literary reference for Valentine’s Day![news][entertainment][technology][design] […]
February 14th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
[…] And here’s the word on Google’s VD logo for today. […]
February 14th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Some of you are idiots. There is no ‘l’ in Google’s logo today. If you think that this kind of obscure reference is beyond Google, then you obviously know nothing about the company. It is filled with geeks and scientists. Don’t be upset because you were to inept to even fathom a clue who Googe was. Perhaps you should spend more time reading literature than trolling someone’s message board.
February 14th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
[…] [Link] […]
February 14th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
maybe the G is on top of the L doing the tango.
$357,000,000 wasted today thanks to Googe
February 14th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
And what about the 2nd result? Debbie Googe? A basist from the rock band My Bloody Valentine
February 14th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
[…] Apparently, there’s quite the debate over the ‘misspelling’ of Google. However, given Google’s penchant for strange and obscure allusions, I prefer to think it was something like this: I don’t know if any of have happened to see the Google customized logo for today but it looks distinctly like it’s missing the letter “l.” Knowing Google’s penchant for obscure mathematical, science, and literary references, I did a search on the word “Googe.” Sure enough, I got a wikipedia entry for Barnabe Googe, a 16th century poet mostly famous for the following line: […]
February 14th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
i’m so glad the people at google are hard at work explaining why they spelled google as googe today.
February 14th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
the stem of the strawberry is the L… noobs
February 14th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
[…] The Puget News did a bit of research: Knowing Google’s penchant for obscure mathematical, science, and literary references, I did a search on the word “Googe.” Sure enough, I got a wikipedia entry for Barnabe Googe, a 16th century poet mostly famous for the following line: […]
February 14th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
“I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die.”
sounds like a line from a bloody James Blunt song.
February 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
[…] read more | digg story […]
February 15th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I think Google explained it best:
Gs are red, Ls are green….strawberry is red the stem is green….duh
February 15th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
[…] MYTHOUGHTS% You really have to check this out, I saw this yesterday and thought about the L too! It actually has some interesting relevance. read more | digg story […]
February 15th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
I think that when google said “those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately.” They meant that if you actually felt the strawberry in your mouth when your eyes hit the second g, then you would only really be able to produce a sort of half-L.
February 15th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
[…] UPDATE: Right after I learned about this, from Gio, and get a 2 Diggs, this dude got Dugg 1,000+ times! And here comes Google’s official statement. Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
February 15th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Personally, I like the idea that the “L” took the day off to perhaps swoon that sexy “K” next to him in the alphabet.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
i think you might be digging a bit to deep into this. i just figured that the stem was an ‘L’.
February 16th, 2007 at 3:35 am
How about the fact that G could stand for Gay and L for Lesbian, meaning that Google included homosexuals in their valentines day celebration?
February 16th, 2007 at 6:00 am
[…] Later edit: se pare ca exista totusi “a catch”: https://thepugetnews.com/2007/02/14/googles-obscure-literary-reference-for-valentines-day-the-googe/ Bobby este bloggerul care a scris acest post pentru BLOGoree.ro Blog Pentru mai multe informatii despre bloguri, ajutor pentru a va crea sau dezvolta un blog, membrii FORUMUL BLOGGERILOR va pot raspunde la intrebari. Mai mult AICI Funny Posturi similare:Perceptii gresite …Anuntul aparitiei AdsenseFara imagini langa Adsense, spune GoogleStirile saptamanii 13-20.06.2006Lista lui Mezei (tools si linkuri SEO) […]
February 16th, 2007 at 6:41 am
[…] [via Google Blogoscoped Forum und The Putgetnews] […]
February 16th, 2007 at 9:21 am
It’s goo-e, as in gooey, you dumbasses. There’s chocolate, liquid chocolate. Gooey. Idiots!
February 18th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Wow- who knew google would go into so much research or thought for something as simple as that! incredible
June 6th, 2007 at 2:02 am
[…] read more | digg story […]
July 31st, 2007 at 9:54 pm
[…] read more | digg story Posted by seethepost Filed in news […]
October 8th, 2007 at 2:13 am
[…] I did some very brief digging and found an obscure literary reference for Valentine’s Day!read more | digg […]
October 29th, 2007 at 2:04 am
[…] read more | digg story […]