SIPs as content summary of SF

[trochee]

thetensor points out that the statistically improbable phrases for the Hugo award winners of the last fifty years often make a decent thirty-second summary of the books themselves. Here's an excerpt from his post (brackets are thetensor's comments):

Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein (1960)

hand flamer, assistant section leader, retrieval boat, cap troopers, bulkhead thirty, shines the name, powered suit, powered armor, combat drop, your platoon, platoon sergeant, third lieutenant, administrative punishment, drop room, sack time

[This is the first home run—it's almost a summary of the novel.]

...

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (1986)

bugger ships, bugger fleet, bugger wars, beat the buggers, flash suits, null gravity, toon leaders, simulator field, green green brown, frozen soldier, launch group

[Hmm, bugger, bugger, bugger, and buggers. I wonder what Orson has on his mind?]

These are fun.