pick up on vs spy

pick up on

verb
  • To notice, observe, learn, or understand, especially something otherwise overlooked. 

  • To adopt a practice in which others already engage. 

  • To continue or build upon (for example, a task, analysis, or narrative), beginning from a point at which someone has previously stopped. 

spy

verb
  • To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country. 

  • To act as a spy. 

  • To search narrowly; to scrutinize. 

  • To spot; to catch sight of. 

noun
  • A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately. 

  • A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage). 

How often have the words pick up on and spy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )