JS isn't that bad if w/ underscore or d3: d3.entries((s.split(" ").reduce(function(p, v){ v in p ? p[v]++ : p[v] = 1; return p;}, {})))

JS isn't that bad if w/ underscore or d3: d3.entries((s.split(" ").reduce(function(p, v){ v in p ? p[v]++ : p[v] = 1; return p;}, {}))) .sort(function(a, b){ return a.value > b.value; }) .map(function(d){ return d.key;}) .slice(-10);