# How do I search for an old thread?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [May 17, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539 "2002-05-17T13:08:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/1 "2002-05-17T13:08:49Z")
I’m looking for a thread I participated in a long time ago. I think the thread title was _strange things you say involving your cats name_ or something like that.
I’m not sure if it was IMHO or MPSIMS.
I tried putting ‘strange AND things’ into a search of thread titles but nothing came up.
Actually I’ve tried quite a few things but I can’t find it. (apparently there is a lot of mindless, pointless stuff I feel I must share)
I would be very grateful for any tips on searching for something like this.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/2 "2002-05-17T13:32:53Z")
[Strange things you say involving your pets name](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=72264&highlight=strange+name)
I looked for the words “strange” and “name” (don’t use “AND” between words), thread titles only, MPSIMS. It was on the first page of hits.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/3 "2002-05-17T17:31:01Z")
Thanks,
Don’t those ‘instructions’ tell me to use AND between words?
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/4 "2002-05-17T18:23:36Z")
They do, but with my method, a thread title with the word “strange” but not the word “name” will also appear. Doesn’t explain it in this case, but it might give you better results in general. YMMV.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/5 "2002-05-17T22:15:21Z")
Just a hunch, but “things” might be one of the words that the search engine doesn’t index. In that case, the search “strange AND things” would return anything containing “strange”, which on this board would be a lot. I presume that you got a whole slew of hits, and couldn’t find the one you were looking for?
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### Author:  [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2002, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/6 "2002-05-18T11:32:23Z")
I’m having trouble searching for threads too, whenever I put something in, it tells me it can’t find anything because of the three letter words, but sometimes the only thing I can remember about a thread title is a three letter word. Guy, Dog, Pet, etc.
And it seems like if I can only remember the name of the person who started a thread, it tells me nothing found because there is no subject to look for or something along those lines.
What can I do about it ?
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-search-for-an-old-thread/109539/7 "2002-05-18T11:43:08Z")
Search for a posters name using “match partial name”.