Grandma wins Internet with politest Google search ever

Jenn Gidman

Newser staff

June 17, 2016, 10:23 a.m. ET

Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters

(NEWSER) – When Ben John went to his grandma's house last week to do laundry, he decided to surf the Internet on her laptop while he was waiting. What he found on the Web page she had open blew his millennial mind, the Guardian reports. "Omg opened my Nan's laptop and when she's googled something she's put 'please' and 'thank you.' I can't," the 25-year-old Brit from Wigan tweeted, attaching a screenshot of a Google search bar that contained a very courteous request to translate a series of Roman numerals. When John asked 86-year-old May Ashworth why she was so exceedingly polite to the AI answer-bot, her answer sent him into more Google-induced giggles. "It seemed she thinks that there is someone—a physical person—at Google's headquarters who looks after the searches," John tells the BBC. "She thought that by being polite and using her manners, the search would be quicker."

Ashworth's translation request for "MCMXCVIII" was because she wanted to know what year a TV show she was watching had been made. Google UK responded to John's tweet with its own, posting, "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." Even the global Google account piped in: "Dear Grandma, No thanks necessary. Sincerely, Google." The rest of the Internet (mostly real, live people, we assume) were similarly charmed by Ashworth's online etiquette: John's tweet has been retweeted more than 30,000 times. Meanwhile, John—who posted a pic Wednesday of him with Ashworth—tells CNN he's glad people are getting a kick out of story. "After the absolute atrocity in Orlando, people need a reason to smile." (The Internet helped crack a mystery code left by a dying grandma.)

This story originally appeared on Newser:

What a British Guy Found on His Grandma's Laptop Has Now Gone Viral