Worst words to Google and why you should never search them

If you've made it this far then I think it's safe to assume you know what you're doing as far as Google is concerned.

You probably know all about what will happen if you type in 'zerg rush' or tell the search engine to 'do a barrel roll', but there are some words you're really much better off never looking up.

A lot of these have to do with your health, which may be a bit of an issue if you're feeling under the weather.

For a lot of people Doctor Google is their first port of call when trying to figure out what the symptoms add up to, but the results of the search engine may not be something you'd like to see.

In that vein, a bunch of people gathered on Reddit once had a big discussion about the words you should never look up and came up with a pretty understandable list.

Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images

One poor soul explained they were trying to search 'moth larva' and instead Googled 'mouth larva'.

One of these things is a moth in the infant stage, pretty disgusting if you don't like bugs, but the other is about parasites that hatch inside the mouths of animals, humans included.

These parasites then live inside the mouths of their hosts and can cause a dangerous infection known as 'oral myiasis', so perhaps don't google 'mouth larva'.

Then, of course, you definitely don't want to look up 'degloving', which might sound like someone taking off their gloves, but is actually when bits of your skin and body tissue are ripped from the rest of you.

If there's a bit of you torn off from the muscle, tissue or even bone that's what 'degloving' is, and you'll be better off never looking it up.

If you really must persist then you also ought to stay away from the word 'Krokodil', which means 'crocodile' in the worst way possible.

Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It refers to a flesh eating drug which can turn patches of your body dark and scaly like a crocodile's, hence the name.

Since you likely prefer your search history to be far removed from images of decaying flesh, you should also give the word 'Fournier' a swerve.

This is a French surname, but it's also the term for an 'acute necrotic infection' of the genitals, essentially being a kind of gangrene for your goolies.

Many people use the internet to look at pictures of people's privates, but one would hope they don't actively seek out images of diseased and rotting dangly bits.

Rounding off the list of things never to Google is 'Harlequin ichthyosis', a rare skin condition in newborn babies which makes them look as though they're 'covered with thick, diamond-shaped plates that resemble fish scales', and make life very hard for the baby.

Now, go and Google some cute videos of cats or something, cleanse your digital palette and definitely don't look up any of the things we just told you not to look up.

If you want a fun internet adventure, Google an interesting word accompanied by the term 'etymology', I promise you won't be disappointed.

Topics: Google, Reddit, Technology, Weird

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker