# Why is "appropriate" not a good search term although "inappropriate" is? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671 "2004-10-05T17:03:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/1 "2004-10-05T17:03:37Z")
I did a search for each of these two terms among my own posts. “Appropriate” was either “too common, too short or too long,” but “inappropriate” behaved as expected. How come? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/2 "2004-10-05T18:36:39Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I did a search for each of these two terms among my own posts. “Appropriate” was either “too common, too short or too long,” but “inappropriate” behaved as expected. How come? ?? Are you high on drugs? Or are you always this obtuse? 😃 :eek: ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/3 "2004-10-05T19:03:39Z")
Indeed. I think we should all be quite heartened, as well as a little relieved, by **matt** ’s discovery and the obvious conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/4 "2004-10-05T19:27:12Z")
**ouryL** , **zut** : What? **matt** has found a genuine bug in the search engine, and you two are making inane and completely out-of-context remarks. I would love some idea of what you two are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/5 "2004-10-05T20:09:44Z")
Inane? Why, I think my remarks were quite… appropriate. Consider: the word “appropriate” is either “too common, too short or too long” to be listed in the database. The inclusion of “inappropriate,” a longer word, tells us that “appropriate” can hardly be too long. Similarly, common sense tells us that “appropriate” cannot be too short – and thus it must be _too common._ And I, for one, am heartened that, as a community, the SDMB focuses on _appropriate_ subject matter, and shies away from the _inappropriate_ – a definite sign of a healthy moral attitude. A message board filled with cleanly, wholesome, appropriate topics is surely preferable to one full of vulgar, nasty, inappropriate trash. After all, where would we be if there were too much inappropriateness? Perdition, certainly. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/6 "2004-10-05T20:17:25Z")
It’s not a bug in the search engine. VBulletin has a list of common words that are supposed to be unsearchable. They used to be stored in a file called “badwords.php”, but I believe it’s now called “searchwords.php”. It keeps the search index small(er) by excluding common words. “Appropriate” is one of those common words, but “inappropriate” is not. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/7 "2004-10-06T04:43:46Z")
I’d call that a bug in the search engine… ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/8 "2004-10-06T04:49:18Z")
How so? It performs as intended. Don’t get me wrong, it would be cool to be able to search on any word. But that doesn’t make it a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/9 "2004-10-06T05:31:30Z")
Whose idea was that? “Hmmm… Exclude ‘a,’ ‘the,’ ‘or,’ ‘an,’ ‘if’ and ‘appropriate.’” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/10 "2004-10-06T05:59:28Z")
It’s a whole bunch of words. **Musicat** posted his (her?) default badwords.php from version 2.2.1 a while back, you can [check it out if you’re interested.](http://doorbell.net/junk/badwords.txt) I imagine the new version of that file is even bigger. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-appropriate-not-a-good-search-term-although-inappropriate-is/267671/11 "2004-10-06T14:04:47Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > **ouryL** , **zut** : What? **matt** has found a genuine bug in the search engine, and you two are making inane and completely out-of-context remarks. You are absolutely right. We don’t need hecklers on this forum. And insults especially belong in the Pit.