You ever ask a question in an online space, or in real life, and get the response: "Why don't you just Google it?" "You could've Googled it." "Here, Let Me Google That For You."

It might be a variation on the phrase, of course, but the suggestion to put your question to the internet and the tone of condescension are always the same.

But hey, I have a question: Do those condescending folk think that information on the internet springs whole-cloth from the Font of Divine Truth? Because stuff on the internet is put there by people. People write it. They upload it. The answers you get when you Google a question are all answers devised by human beings - at this point either directly, or indirectly via regurgitation by chatbot.

What I'm saying is: "Googling" and "Asking Someone" are the same thing. I can either ask you, the person in front of me, who I presumably have some familiarity with and, furthermore, respect for your viewpoint and trust in your knowledge base; or I can ask a bunch of randos on the internet.

So, let me be honest: it is the condescension which inspired in me a spiteful mulling over of the concept and subsequent retort aimed squarely into the internet aether, l'espirit de escalier far too long removed from any given conversation to make myself seem conversationally witty. If you just don't know the answer, no face lost. Just say that you don't know.