For my Google Ngram, I looked at the word horse in relation to the words car and train. The first interesting tidbit has to do with horse itself – why in the early 1700’s was there such an explosion of the word “horse”? Horses have been domesticated for 5000-6000 years, and they’ve been known as the “noblest of beasts” since at least the time of the Greeks. So why was there such an explosion?

(cause everyone can use a little horse dancing)

It turns out that there actually is a correlation to Gangnam Style. Psy was a virtual unknown outside of Korea before his popular music video debut over the summer. Today it has over 718 million hits. In the span of a few months, Psy has become famous. The effects of his music could have ramifications for music across the world – at the very least, it probably opened up an avenue for Korean music to leak into the American lexicon.

Similarly, the explosion in the use of the word “horse” has to do with three famous horses born in the 1710s, chiefly Flying Childers, arguably the first great racehorse ever (or at least in the English speaking world). In 1720, Childers won his first race, coinciding with the first major explosion. This, coupled with the promotion of the sport by Queen Anne from 1700-1714, made horse racing the chosen pasttime of the English elite. Fast forward to 1752, and a new governing body for the race, the Jockey Club, was established to help create rules and regulations for the new sport. This coincides with the largest increase in the number of times the word was used since 1700. From 1760 onward, the usage of the word horse stayed relatively consistent (around the .0096% mark) until 1900 (a feat that’s quite remarkable considering that throughout the time period more books were being published, meaning the usage of the word likely increased).

Car and train were both used relatively consistently throughout the 1700s and into the mid 1800s. In the case of train, this likely has to do with the varying definitions train carries (from an orderly procession to the very old definition of “betrayal” or “trickery”). Car was essentially shorthand for “carriage” and in fact is celtic in origin.

What’s interesting is that train began a steady climb beginning in 1860 (around which time many of the first major railways were being completed). At this point, the usage of the word horse steadily declined, though it still remained near .0096%. It wasn’t until cars became very popular that horse truly began to lose it’s popularity – by 1919, horse was at it’s lowest point in almost 2 centuries. In 1940, car finally began to overtake the usage of horse. This could possibly be do to the great depression – though few people were capable of owning cars at this point in time, the extreme social engineering many western governments undertook over the course of the economic calamity may have persuaded people of the cultural importance a car had. Car struggled to maintain its usage over the next 24 years, until 1964 when car began a steady climb that continued until the early 2000’s. This was probably do to the construction of the American interstate highway system – the first state to complete their high way system was Nebraska in 1974. The construction continued into the 1990’s, helping to boost car’s popularity usage, rising to similar prominence as “horse”, climbing to around .0096%. Why had car declined in the 2000’s? Possibly because of the rising popularity in the green movement.

Trains on the other hand have risen in popularity since 1995.

Interestingly, in the last decade, horse has had a sudden revival. It’s the most dramatic incline since the 1800’s. This could be do to some of the famous horses that have raced in the last decade, but it could also be do to the rising wealth disparity in the United States – the wealth disparity that has existed over the last decade is among the greatest in history.