Statistically Improbable Phrases

I don't know if any of you have discovered the phenomena that are Statistically Improbable Phrases(SIP): phrases that occur with great periodicity in one book but not in others. As such, they are an index of sorts, and can help the reader understand the author's main (unique) ideas in succint form.

Go to Amazon.com. Type in Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Eliade, it will come up with the following SIPs: shamanic ideology, autres peuples turcs orientaux, initiatory master, shamanic ascent, atnongara stones, shamanic structure, shamanic costume, family shamanism, mystical heat, initiatory schema, shamanic ideologies, spontaneous vocation, initiatory dreams, future shaman, ecstatic capacities, ancestral shamans, celestial wife, ecstatic journey, celestial ascent, voluntary quest, strayed soul, shamanic cure, cosmic zones, hemp smoke, shamanic complex.

For Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, it lists: cultus epithets, magical sacra, fireless sacrifice, magical musician, chthonic ritual, matriarchal conditions, underworld divinities, women divinities, local cultus, wineless libations, primitive significance, chilly gloom, votive relief, underworld beings, real gist, local heroine, sacred child, eager feet, winnowing fan, snake form, fertility charm, main gist, underworld gods.

So, for instance, if you're in grad school and only have an hour to read a 400 page book, you can familiarize yourself with the key concepts of a book by looking up the SIPs in the index and reading enough to familiarize yourself with the definition of each. So, even though you will not have read the book cover to cover, you'll still be able to speak intelligently about the key concepts (useful trick).

From Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practice, we get: praeterhuman intelligence, black graphite pencil, secure thy pen, violet pencil, energized enthusiasm, four great princes, sub figura, electrum magicum, preliminary invocation, love under will, conquering child, initiated interpretation, lineal figures, scrutinium chymicum, neophyte ritual, lesser ritual, magical record, magical link, supreme ritual, editorial brackets, rushing fire, paper first appeared, magical memory, been conformed, elemental weapons.

From Bradley's The Mists of Avalon I find: little sickle knife, magical scabbard, holiday tunic, pagan banner, fairy country, attendant priestesses, treaty troops, little dark people, old royal line, spring maiden, holiday gown, great priestess, deerskin tunic, dragon banner, old priestess, breeding woman, young stag.

From Little, Big, by John Crowley, I find: folding bedroom, old orrery, imaginary study, alligator purse, guardian trees, tall bed, single eyebrow.

They also have Capitalized Phrases in a separate menu, which also could be of some importance, depending on whether the item in question is fiction or not.

From Herbert's Dune, I get: stillsuit manufacturer, panoplia propheticus, gom jabbar, colonel bashar, inkvine scar, ducal signet, factory crawler, poison snooper, voice from the outer world, stillsuit hood, dew collectors, diamond tattoo, little makers, maker hooks, message cylinder, water flagon, funeral plain, death commandos, spice liquor, palm lock, prison planet, shield belt, terrible purpose, demanding memory, desert power.

I dunno. . . I just think this is really neat. I wish we'd had this when I was in school.