4 ms·

“Less aggressive synonyms” Fantastic! That’s one of the things that has been bothering me on Google lately.

nostromo 15y ago
The one that's been driving me crazy lately: 4 as a synonym for "for." I understand some percent of the population "rites lik dis 4 serch" -- but I certainly don't! When 4 = for, and "for" is on every page on the internet, it almost had me pulling my hair out. Here's an example (but not my exact query). "iPhone 4" will match pages with "iPhone" and "for." http://i.imgur.com/vN1oh.png http://i.imgur.com/vN1oh.png
- ktsmith 15y ago
  While incredibly annoying putting the 4 in quotes like this: "4" will eliminate "for" from your results.
  - bo1024 15y ago
    I've been wondering. How do I do that and also search for the exact phrase "iPhone 4"? Do I type "iPhone 4" "4"? (edit: this seems to work.)
  - cpeterso 15y ago
    Someone should write a browser extension or Greasemonkey script to automatically quote your Google search terms.
    - vaneck 15y ago
      Not an extension, but: http://finderr.org http://finderr.org Disclaimer: I made that, but I gain nothing from its usage and don't collect any private information (like the search terms).
    - spacemanaki 15y ago
      I discovered the "verbatim" option under the "More search tools" link on the left hand side recently. http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&p=g_verb&answer=1734130 http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&... It's not as convenient as an extension or a script, of course.
      - sp332 15y ago
        It should be easy enough to write an extension or even a bookmarklet for this. You just have to add &tbs=li:1 to the end of the URL to enable "verbatim" mode.
    - Drbble 15y ago
      I have one such extension on my PC (but I am on my phone now, sorry. )
Anechoic 15y ago
“Less aggressive synonyms” For the love of god, yes. I just did a search where Google conveniently decided to substitute "bike" and "bicycle" for the word "cycle" (as in "a series of repeated events") Sigh.

The one that's been driving me crazy lately: 4 as a synonym for "for." I understand some percent of the population "rites lik dis 4 serch" -- but I certainly don't! When 4 = for, and "for" is on every page on the internet, it almost had me pulling my hair out. Here's an example (but not my exact query). "iPhone 4" will match pages with "iPhone" and "for." http://i.imgur.com/vN1oh.png http://i.imgur.com/vN1oh.png

ktsmith 15y ago
While incredibly annoying putting the 4 in quotes like this: "4" will eliminate "for" from your results.
- bo1024 15y ago
  I've been wondering. How do I do that and also search for the exact phrase "iPhone 4"? Do I type "iPhone 4" "4"? (edit: this seems to work.)
- cpeterso 15y ago
  Someone should write a browser extension or Greasemonkey script to automatically quote your Google search terms.
  - vaneck 15y ago
    Not an extension, but: http://finderr.org http://finderr.org Disclaimer: I made that, but I gain nothing from its usage and don't collect any private information (like the search terms).
  - spacemanaki 15y ago
    I discovered the "verbatim" option under the "More search tools" link on the left hand side recently. http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&p=g_verb&answer=1734130 http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&... It's not as convenient as an extension or a script, of course.
    - sp332 15y ago
      It should be easy enough to write an extension or even a bookmarklet for this. You just have to add &tbs=li:1 to the end of the URL to enable "verbatim" mode.
  - Drbble 15y ago
    I have one such extension on my PC (but I am on my phone now, sorry. )

Anechoic 15y ago

“Less aggressive synonyms” For the love of god, yes. I just did a search where Google conveniently decided to substitute "bike" and "bicycle" for the word "cycle" (as in "a series of repeated events") Sigh.