# Words you cannot search for using the board search **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 3, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823 "2016-03-03T13:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/1 "2016-03-03T13:05:14Z")
Every once in a while when I use the board search, I get the message, “The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : \”. I was wondering what the whole list of too common unsearchable words was, and I think I have found it [here](http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-stopwords.html). It is a list embedded in MySQL, which is used by vBulletin. I have tried a small sample of them, and all are unsearchable. ```auto a's able about above according accordingly across actually after afterwards again against ain't all allow allows almost alone along already also although always am among amongst an and another any anybody anyhow anyone anything anyway anyways anywhere apart appear appreciate appropriate are aren't around as aside ask asking associated at available away awfully be became because become becomes becoming been before beforehand behind being believe below beside besides best better between beyond both brief but by c'mon c's came can can't cannot cant cause causes certain certainly changes clearly co com come comes concerning consequently consider considering contain containing contains corresponding could couldn't course currently definitely described despite did didn't different do does doesn't doing don't done down downwards during each edu eg eight either else elsewhere enough entirely especially et etc even ever every everybody everyone everything everywhere ex exactly example except far few fifth first five followed following follows for former formerly forth four from further furthermore get gets getting given gives go goes going gone got gotten greetings had hadn't happens hardly has hasn't have haven't having he he's hello help hence her here here's hereafter hereby herein hereupon hers herself hi him himself his hither hopefully how howbeit however i'd i'll i'm i've ie if ignored immediate in inasmuch inc indeed indicate indicated indicates inner insofar instead into inward is isn't it it'd it'll it's its itself just keep keeps kept know known knows last lately later latter latterly least less lest let let's like liked likely little look looking looks ltd mainly many may maybe me mean meanwhile merely might more moreover most mostly much must my myself name namely nd near nearly necessary need needs neither never nevertheless new next nine no nobody non none noone nor normally not nothing novel now nowhere obviously of off often oh ok okay old on once one ones only onto or other others otherwise ought our ours ourselves out outside over overall own particular particularly per perhaps placed please plus possible presumably probably provides que quite qv rather rd re really reasonably regarding regardless regards relatively respectively right said same saw say saying says second secondly see seeing seem seemed seeming seems seen self selves sensible sent serious seriously seven several shall she should shouldn't since six so some somebody somehow someone something sometime sometimes somewhat somewhere soon sorry specified specify specifying still sub such sup sure t's take taken tell tends th than thank thanks thanx that that's thats the their theirs them themselves then thence there there's thereafter thereby therefore therein theres thereupon these they they'd they'll they're they've think third this thorough thoroughly those though three through throughout thru thus to together too took toward towards tried tries truly try trying twice two un under unfortunately unless unlikely until unto up upon us use used useful uses using usually value various very via viz vs want wants was wasn't way we we'd we'll we're we've welcome well went were weren't what what's whatever when whence whenever where where's whereafter whereas whereby wherein whereupon wherever whether which while whither who who's whoever whole whom whose why will willing wish with within without won't wonder would wouldn't yes yet you you'd you'll you're you've your yours yourself yourselves zero ``` Just one of those things that bugged me, and now I know the answer. And so do you. Yes, I am aware of how to search the board with Google. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/2 "2016-03-03T20:32:24Z")
“Whence”? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/3 "2016-03-04T02:07:34Z")
“Whereafter” is too common to be searched? Not only have I never used that word in my life, I wasn’t even aware that it _was_ a word. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/4 "2016-03-04T05:14:52Z")
Strange. Here are what Google search reports for this site for a few random selections: whither - 1550 whereafter - 111 hither - 2460 thither - 1170 On what boards do those qualify as “very common”? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/5 "2016-03-04T05:18:54Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Strange. Here are what Google search reports for this site for a few random selections: > > whither - 1550 > whereafter - 111 > hither - 2460 > thither - 1170 > > On what boards do those qualify as “very common”? SCA/Ren Faire boards?😃 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/6 "2016-03-04T14:38:21Z")
IF you look more closely, many of the words, and especially these ones folks are 😕 about are simply connectives. “Therefore” doesn’t help in identifying what a passage is _about_. Ultimately, what we all wish for is \*semantic \*search: “Tell me all about whales’ intestines”. AI doesn’t really do that yet, and MySQL is very far from AI. So instead we have \*syntactic \*search: “show me articles that contain the word ‘whale’ and the word ‘intestine’”. The hope is that’s close enough and the humans will be able to separate the wheat from the mostly-winnowed chaff. Anyone who’s tried Googling for some facts about music will tell you that theory falls apart when the topic in question is also a heavily sold retail product. The other point is that MySQL is ultimately an underpowered hobbyist project. To be sure it’s been improved a great deal since v1.0, and given todays’ mongo hardware it does pretty darn good. But it retains some design features from the old days. Leaving out all the “noise words” means the size & computational challenge of creating the search index is reduced by 5 or 10x. That’s a speed-up worth having. Whereafter the expense of being able to look up that one thread you remember where some pretentious twit used “whereafter”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/7 "2016-03-04T14:53:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IF you look more closely, many of the words, and especially these ones folks are 😕 about are simply connectives. > > “Therefore” doesn’t help in identifying what a passage is _about_. I frequently search thread titles to find old threads I remember reading. The thread might be about war or sex, but you can’t search on either of those words because they are too short. But if I remember the title contained the word “nobody” or “whither”, I could still find it, except those words are on the unsearchable list. So it does diminish the usability of search in some cases. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/8 "2016-03-04T14:55:34Z")
ETA: ninja’d by **Fear Itself**. Late add to my earlier post: Which also raises an interesting issue: searching the SDMB is not like searching the internet. Because the users’ goals and starting positions are different. Or at least mine are. I’m \*never \*searching for new threads on specific topics. I’m \*always \*searching to find a thread I remember reading or posting to so I can link to it in a new post. In that context, and in that context alone, being able to search for rare words even if they’re noise words would be useful. e.g. I recall that twit used “whereafter” in a post about music and searching for “whereafter” will probably return just a couple threads, whereas searching for “music” will probably return thousands. Contrast that with searching the 'net at large via Google or whoever. I have zero idea of the details of anything I’m going to find. All I have are some plausible topic words & a hope. Ultimately MySQL text search was written more for the general case than this specific case. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/9 "2016-03-06T09:49:15Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Every once in a while when I use the board search, I get the message, “The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : \”. I was wondering what the whole list of too common unsearchable words was, and I think I have found it [here](http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-stopwords.html). It is a list embedded in MySQL, which is used by vBulletin. I have tried a small sample of them, and all are unsearchable. > > ```auto > > a's able about above according > accordingly across actually after afterwards > again against ain't all allow > allows almost alone along already > also although always am among > amongst an and another any > anybody anyhow anyone anything anyway > anyways anywhere apart appear appreciate > appropriate are aren't around as > aside ask asking associated at > available away awfully be became > because become becomes becoming been > before beforehand behind being believe > below beside besides best better > between beyond both brief but > by c'mon c's came can > can't cannot cant cause causes > certain certainly changes clearly co > com come comes concerning consequently > consider considering contain containing contains > corresponding could couldn't course currently > definitely described despite did didn't > different do does doesn't doing > don't done down downwards during > each edu eg eight either > else elsewhere enough entirely especially > et etc even ever every > everybody everyone everything everywhere ex > exactly example except far few > fifth first five followed following > follows for former formerly forth > four from further furthermore get > gets getting given gives go > goes going gone got gotten > greetings had hadn't happens hardly > has hasn't have haven't having > he he's hello help hence > her here here's hereafter hereby > herein hereupon hers herself hi > him himself his hither hopefully > how howbeit however i'd i'll > i'm i've ie if ignored > immediate in inasmuch inc indeed > indicate indicated indicates inner insofar > instead into inward is isn't > it it'd it'll it's its > itself just keep keeps kept > know known knows last lately > later latter latterly least less > lest let let's like liked > likely little look looking looks > ltd mainly many may maybe > me mean meanwhile merely might > more moreover most mostly much > must my myself name namely > nd near nearly necessary need > needs neither never nevertheless new > next nine no nobody non > none noone nor normally not > nothing novel now nowhere obviously > of off often oh ok > okay old on once one > ones only onto or other > others otherwise ought our ours > ourselves out outside over overall > own particular particularly per perhaps > placed please plus possible presumably > probably provides que quite qv > rather rd re really reasonably > regarding regardless regards relatively respectively > right said same saw say > saying says second secondly see > seeing seem seemed seeming seems > seen self selves sensible sent > serious seriously seven several shall > she should shouldn't since six > so some somebody somehow someone > something sometime sometimes somewhat somewhere > soon sorry specified specify specifying > still sub such sup sure > t's take taken tell tends > th than thank thanks thanx > that that's thats the their > theirs them themselves then thence > there there's thereafter thereby therefore > therein theres thereupon these they > they'd they'll they're they've think > third this thorough thoroughly those > though three through throughout thru > thus to together too took > toward towards tried tries truly > try trying twice two un > under unfortunately unless unlikely until > unto up upon us use > used useful uses using usually > value various very via viz > vs want wants was wasn't > way we we'd we'll we're > we've welcome well went were > weren't what what's whatever when > whence whenever where where's whereafter > whereas whereby wherein whereupon wherever > whether which while whither who > who's whoever whole whom whose > why will willing wish with > within without won't wonder would > wouldn't yes yet you you'd > you'll you're you've your yours > yourself yourselves zero > > ``` > > Just one of those things that bugged me, and now I know the answer. **And so do you.** :eek: “So do I?” Again, I say :eek: Not bloody likely. I know where to find it at a moment’s notice, yes\*. Thank you for that. \*Until this thread drops out of the list, anyway. Maybe you could persuade the admins to make it a sticky. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/10 "2016-03-06T12:17:40Z")
Nah, just remember to search for one of the rare words like “whereafter” used in this thread. Oh, … wait a minute. Neeeever miiiind! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/11 "2016-03-06T13:14:30Z")
What bugs me is that the search has a blacklist _and_ a minimum word length. A minimum word length is a quick-and-dirty way to eliminate most of the “noise words”, like “the”, “and”, and “of”. But when you have an explicit blacklist, words like that are already on it. So all the minimum word length actually ends up winnowing out are uncommon short words, like “OSX” and “Wii”, which would be genuinely useful for searches. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/12 "2016-03-06T13:29:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IF you look more closely, many of the words, and especially these ones folks are 😕 about are simply connectives. I think what you mean is that they are _function words_, rather than _lexical words_. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/13 "2016-03-06T13:46:04Z")
Another odd thing about this list is that while all the cardinal numbers from one through nine are included, it includes some ordinal numbers, but not others. First, second, third (not fourth) fifth (not sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth). Weird. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/14 "2016-03-06T17:01:59Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I think what you mean is that they are _function words_, rather than _lexical words_. Proper grammatical terminology is not my fort / forte no matter how it’s pronounced or spelled. Thanks for the correction / clarification. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cannot-search-for-using-the-board-search/747823/15 "2016-03-06T22:59:54Z")
“Money laundering”. weird.😕