'What does the red button do?' tops Czech internet searches in 2022

Reflecting Czech interests, other queries were about mushroom picking, Mother's Day, and how to clean a grill.

Ioana Caloianu

Written by Ioana Caloianu Published on 10.01.2023 11:11:00 (updated on 10.01.2023) Reading time: 2 minutes

Internet searches are a reliable mirror of collective thoughts and worries at a given time. Statistics from the Seznam.cz search engine for the year 2022 were a case in point. The most searched questions in Czech predictably revolved around current and annual events (winter time and the war in Ukraine) as well as seasonal activities such as mushroom picking.

It also turned out some head-scratchers related to the operation of certain household appliances and inquiries about a beloved Hollywood actor's medical diagnosis. The data's reliability rests upon the fact that half of Czechs use Seznam.cz at least once a month.

Most searched questions in 2022 at a glance

Where?

  • Where do mushrooms grow?
  • Where will the speed be measured?
  • Where can you pay with a benefit plus card?
Mushroom picking in the forest. Photo: iStock / PIKSEL
Mushroom picking in the forest. Photo: iStock / PIKSEL

Searches about mushroom picking started popping up as soon as the mushrooms themselves appeared in Czech forests, meaning at the end of April, and only subsided once the mushroom season was over in November.

Why?

  • Why does the red button of the TV remote control not work?
  • Why is there a war in Ukraine?
  • Why are cucumbers bitter?

Technology-related questions are rife in our day and age, as gadgets tend to malfunction, like remotes whose red buttons cause confusion among users. In case the red button refuses to do anything, an urban legend says that reading the instruction manual that comes with the remote, might help.

Fresh cucumbers should be just the right amount of bitter. Photo via Flickr/ Marco Verch Professional Photographer.
Fresh cucumbers should be just the right amount of bitter. Photo via Flickr/ Marco Verch Professional Photographer.

As for cucumbers, their season in the months of July and August is also a good time to try your hand at pickling them in brine using our recipe that ensures they won't turn out bitter.

What?

  • What to do in the event of a nuclear attack?
  • What is martial law?
  • What is aphasia?

On a more serious note, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine dominated searches in several categories, with people worried about a potential nuclear attack, and wanting to know about the martial law which the country imposed after the Russian attack in February. The law has been prolonged several times, most recently until Feb. 19, 2023, according to Kyiv Independent.

Bruce Willis at 	Gage Skidmore
Bruce Willis at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore, under CC BY 2.0.

The aphasia diagnosis of Bruce Willis also made people curious about the disease, which can affect a person's ability to speak, listen, read and write.

When?

  • When is Mother's Day?
  • When to retire
  • When to switch to summer/winter time
Alarm clock in a spring meadow. Photo: iStock / Wavetop
Clocks falling back in spring created a lot of confusion in 2022, as they do every year. Photo: iStock / Wavetop

Questions about Mother's Day dominated searches in the time category. Interestingly enough, although the celebration falls in the second Sunday in May, which in 2022 was May 14, searches continued after that date, in an indication that some might have been caught red-faced by the special date.

How?

Kites at Parukářka on a fall day. Photo Raymond Johnston
Kites at Parukářka on a fall day. Photo Raymond Johnston
  • How to clean a grill
  • How to make a kite
  • How to choose a carp

Questions in the practical category were a good reflection of what people were up to at any given point in the year – take summer, when grilling is a favorite pastime, or fall, when the windy skies are ideal for flying kites, provided you know how to make them. Last but not least, choosing a carp for Christmas dinner is a matter that Czech households don't take lightly, leading to a surge in internet searches.

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