# "search feature" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373 "2009-02-04T04:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/21 "2009-02-05T02:52:53Z")
I kinda wish there was a timer counting down 'til you could search again. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/22 "2009-02-05T12:52:52Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > If you search for something and it comes up with no hits, it’s 5 minutes to another search. > If you search for something and then realize your default search parameters are off, it’s 5 minutes to another search. > If you search under one word and then realize you should be doing it under a different word, it’s 5 minutes to another search. > If you fuck up and make a typo, it’s 5 minutes to another search. > If you accidently try searching for a three letter word, it’s 5 minutes to another search. > If your search comes up with 1000 possible results and you’d like to narrow that down rather than search through 50 pages of threads, it’s 5 minutes to another search. > > We’re not talking about trying to repeatedly game the system here or tax the servers. The very casual searcher could still spend over 10 minutes looking up the most basic of things on the board. If you get everything just right then you get “database error” it’s five minutes to another search. I take it as an opportunity to play with my pizzle. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/23 "2009-02-05T13:42:52Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > You can. “Fat lady sings” brings up only links to threads containing the phrase “fat lady sings.” > > However I don’t know for certaint hat it brings up _every_ thread with that phrase. > > -FrL- In the distant past it did. As of a couple days ago it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/24 "2009-02-05T15:03:31Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > I knew there had been discussion about it and a mention or two that it might happen, but I didn’t know they’d done it. Cool deal; pitch the useless search feature, then. Jerry had it open for a few days but then shut it down again. This search \*Q.E.D. site:boards.straightdope.com \*only gets 27 hits and nothing recent. The quote search partially broke in the upgrade. As an example it was possible to search for “What Exit” before the upgrade and now it causes a database error. ---
**Author:** ![ShermanAter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/25 "2009-02-06T07:33:39Z")
I guess it wouldn’t be proper for me to abandon my own Pit thread. I love this board and I don’t think I have ever once pitched a bitch about it. The amount of knowledge and humor here is far beyond any board I have ever read or posted on. I don’t use the damn search option here very often. It just seems like every single time I try to use it, whether it be a 3 letter search or a word + word kind of a search it NEVER seems find what I am looking for. And that’s ok. It is the 5 minute wait between searches that drives me up the wall. I will admit that sometimes my initial search is either too broad or too narrow. The goddamn 5 minute wait in between searches is driving out of my fucking mind. I have never, ever, once heard a reasonable explanation as too why this is so. That is all I ask. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/26 "2009-02-06T12:28:02Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > In the distant past it did. As of a couple days ago it didn’t. 😕 A couple of days ago, it did. Because a couple of days ago, I tried it out prior to posting what you quoted, and it worked. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/27 "2009-02-06T12:46:04Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > 😕 > > A couple of days ago, it did. Because a couple of days ago, I tried it out prior to posting what you quoted, and it worked. > > -FrL- I tried it just now, and it didn’t… Apparently, the cake is a lie. My theory is that this board in fact doesn’t have search feature and we are all delusional thinking that it have one. I’ve seen “search features” before. That here isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/28 "2009-02-06T13:13:54Z")
> [@puppygod](#): > > I tried it just now, and it didn’t… This is odd. I just did it, just now, and it worked. I did a search for “fat lady sings” and got about 10 results. What happens when you try? -Kris ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/29 "2009-02-06T13:21:55Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > 😕 > > A couple of days ago, it did. Because a couple of days ago, I tried it out prior to posting what you quoted, and it worked. > > -FrL- It’s not a surprise to me when it’s a erratic as it is on working. That’s how a buggy program behaves. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/30 "2009-02-06T13:23:58Z")
I did not understand the cake reference at first. I looked it up, and then was like “Oh yeah, that’s that game I played the first few levels of once.” Then I looked up the ending credits sequence to that game. (Portal, for others not familiar with the cake reference.) I love living in the times I live in. That song (and its presentation) is a work of pure genius. Hilarious! -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/31 "2009-02-06T13:25:26Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > It’s not a surprise to me when it’s a erratic as it is on working. That’s how a buggy program behaves. I don’t know if you are saying it sometimes searches on phrases and sometimes doesn’t, or if you are saying it sometimes searches (whether on phrases or not) and sometimes just gives the database error. It’s for a related reason that I asked another poster what exactly happens when he tries to search “fat lady sings”. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/32 "2009-02-06T13:25:42Z")
I just did “fat lady sings” and got Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. I copy and pasted the exact term I used in my search into this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/33 "2009-02-06T13:29:52Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I did not understand the cake reference at first. I looked it up, and then was like “Oh yeah, that’s that game I played the first few levels of once.” Then I looked up the ending credits sequence to that game. (Portal, for others not familiar with the cake reference.) > > I love living in the times I live in. That song (and its presentation) is a work of pure genius. Hilarious! > > -FrL- It’s the pit so I should add something like this: It makes me angry that I’ll never write anything even close to as good as that. ANGRY! ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/34 "2009-02-06T13:31:03Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I just did “fat lady sings” and got Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. > > I copy and pasted the exact term I used in my search into this thread. So I know it’s buggy, but I’ve never heard of a bug that makes something like this function differently for different users. I mean, there’s all kinds of ways it could happen–perhaps it has to do with the second letter in our real names or something–but it does seem unusual. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/35 "2009-02-06T13:49:21Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I don’t know if you are saying it sometimes searches on phrases and sometimes doesn’t, or if you are saying it sometimes searches (whether on phrases or not) and sometimes just gives the database error. It’s for a related reason that I asked another poster what exactly happens when he tries to search “fat lady sings”. > > -FrL- I’m not trying to debug it. I leave analyzing it to somebody else. I’m just pointing out results vary and you never know if you get the correct results. it’s like waiting for the slot machine to stop spinning to see if you win or lose. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/36 "2009-02-06T21:21:41Z")
I guess I’m lucky, or something. I have done many searches over the years, (most recently when I started Atkins last Monday), and I can think of maybe one or two occasions I was bothered by the search limitations. Most of the time, the search results I do find keep me busy well past the five-minute delay. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373/37 "2009-02-08T16:13:27Z")
I need help finding an old thread. It was about fake company doctors whose only function was to have sex with female employees. Or something like that. I don’t remember the specifics. Since the word “sex” was an integral part of the thread but it is pruned out by the search function it is next to impossible to find it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-feature/484373.md?page=1)