occasional vs thin on the ground

occasional

adj
  • Occurring or appearing irregularly from time to time, but not often. 

  • Created for a specific occasion. 

  • Acting in the indicated role from time to time. 

  • Intended for use as the occasion requires. 

noun
  • A person who does something only occasionally. 

thin on the ground

adj
  • scarce, or difficult to find. 

How often have the words occasional and thin on the ground occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )