# Searching for phrases of short words

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-phrases-of-short-words/481130>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [January 13, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-phrases-of-short-words/481130 "2009-01-13T19:21:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-phrases-of-short-words/481130/1 "2009-01-13T19:21:29Z")

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OK, so I thought I’d see what the collective wisdom of the Dope has to say about the move _[Let the Right One In](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_the_Right_One_In_(film))_, so I searched for “let the right one in” (with quotation marks).

> [@the SDMB](#):
>
> Search: Keyword(s): “let  
> The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search: the, right, one, in”

Not too helpful. I’ve had this sort of problem before; is it actually possible to search for such phrases? Do we have to wait until the board is indexed by Google (when will that happen, anyway)? If Google is indeed the answer, would it be possible to have some sort of “search this site using Google” link placed somewhere convenient?

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**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-phrases-of-short-words/481130/2 "2009-01-13T19:35:31Z")

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I also wanted to find a thread that had a very unique phrase in it, but was unable to find adequate search parameters. Basically it was an OP that was so convoluted that the thread-starter was quoting HIMSELF in the OPENING POST. Some of the replies were hilarious, but now there’s pretty much no way of finding it because I totally forget what the OP was even about.

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**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-phrases-of-short-words/481130/3 "2009-01-13T21:43:57Z")

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I can’t find any threads pertaining to the video game “God of War” because all three terms are three letters or less.

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-phrases-of-short-words/481130/4 "2009-01-14T19:52:50Z")

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No, you can’t search for phrases. Yes, I agree, that and all the other problems are a pain.

There are a couple of items related to search on Jerry’s list.

> **[Current Status of SDMB Upgrade](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=482569)**
>
> This will be a single thread to keep track of the current status of fixes/improvements to the SDMB as well as a place to report any problems you are having. This first post will be edited each time I have an update in status. It will be broken down...

But with the bankruptcy of Creative Loafing, don’t expect them to be attended to any time soon.