> What else would it be? Fairly random. There is no obvious reason to think that words frequency across different languages would be so similar when ranked. Wh

> What else would it be? Fairly random. There is no obvious reason to think that words frequency across different languages would be so similar when ranked. Why is it not the case that in language A the 2nd most popular word is used 90% as often as the first, and in language B the 2nd most popular word is used 70% as often as the first? One would think with something like languages which are so complex and developed independently that there wouldn't be such a surprisingly consistent ratio. And beyond language, it occurs in stuff city populations, the amount of traffic websites receive, last names, ingredients used in cook books, etc...