This article in Slate discusses the use of Google Books to document instances of plagiarism in the works of authors long gone and largely forgotten. What really struck me while reading this piece, however, is how individual most language choice is. When we study English as a second or other language, we teach common patterns of speech, while most of what we write really is quite original. Repeat, for fun, the kind of exercise that the author of the article does. Put in one, two, three, four, etc. words in Google or Google Books and see how many hits you get: a phrase or clause with nine or ten words in sequence will not receive many.
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