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British grandma's polite search request charms Google and rest of internet
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Ben John's tweets about his grandmother May Ashworth's politeness. (twitter.com/Push10Ben/-)
A
British grandmother's exceedingly polite Google search request has charmed users across the internet - and the search giant too.
Wanting to find out what certain Roman numerals meant, May Ashworth, 86, typed into Google: "please translate these roman numerals mcmxcviii thank you".
Her unusually polite search terms caught the attention of her grandson, Ben John, who had found her laptop open.
He tweeted last Friday: "Omg opened my Nan's laptop and when she's googled something she's put 'please' and 'thank you'. I can't".
(Read also: What are your goals in life? Google wants to help)
Omg opened my Nan's laptop and when she's googled something she's put 'please' and 'thank you'. I can't 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/hiy2tecBjU
— Ben John (@Push10Ben) June 9, 2016
John told the BBC that his grandmother thought there was an actual person at Google's headquarters who "looks after the searches".
"She thought that by being polite and using her manners, the search would be quicker," he said, adding that she goes to a "silver surfers' club" at a local library to learn about computers, but does not use her laptop much.
Finally managed to get my famous Nan to take a picture with me! pic.twitter.com/DKgEZf5SiU
— Ben John (@Push10Ben) June 15, 2016
Ashworth was apparently looking to find out the year a certain television programme that she had seen was made. TV shows in Britain still use Roman numerals in their credits, the BBC said.
Mr John's tweet went viral, and has been retweeted more than 13,000 times and liked almost 20,000 times as of 1pm on Thursday (June 16).
The reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with one user writing: "that is the CUTEST THING EVER".
The tweet naturally caught the eye of Google, which had a courteous reply of its own.
"Dearest Ben's Nan. Hope you're well. In a world of billions of Searches, yours made us smile. Oh, and it's 1998. Thank YOU," the search giant's United Kingdom account tweeted.
Dearest Ben's Nan.
Hope you're well.
In a world of billions of Searches, yours made us smile.
Oh, and it's 1998.
Thank YOU@Push10Ben
— Google UK (@GoogleUK) June 15, 2016
Google's global account couldn't resist replying too: "Dear Grandma, no thanks necessary. Sincerely, Google."
Dear Grandma,
No thanks necessary. 😊
Sincerely,
Googlehttps://t.co/vedrVek8nb
— Google (@google) June 15, 2016
