Ask HN: How do you search for "-42" in Google?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2247286

by spacejunkie • 15 years ago

14 15 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Prefixing keywords with a minus sign tells Google to exclude those words from the search. So how can you search for something that begins with a minus sign, like a negative number?

sophacles2• 15 years ago

Similar question for command line options in unix. :)

_delirium2• 15 years ago

In GNU tools at least (not sure if others follow this convention?), the option '--' indicates that subsequent parameters aren't to be interpreted as options. For example, this lets you cd into a directory named '-foo':

   cd -- -foo

eklitzke• 15 years ago

This is a feature of GNU `getopt`, and I think it's supported by most BSD getopts. It's also recommended behavior by the SUS, see guideline 10: http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_...

So it's not mandated, but it's the behavior of nearly all modern UNIX systems.

sophacles2• 15 years ago

This is useful to know, and a great tip! I actually meant that "the OP question applies to searching for info about command line options as well". I find it amusing how your interpretation is equally valid. There is a lesson about clarity of communication here. :)

(also thanks for the reply, I appreciate it even tho it wasn't what I was looking for)

clintcparker• 15 years ago

"-42"

staunch• 15 years ago

The - is ignored it seems.

_delirium2• 15 years ago

That doesn't actually work, but for different reasons: Google drops the punctuation and just searches for "42".

SpookyAction• 15 years ago

Also, how do you search for anything with punctuation? I frequently use Perl, which makes use of punctuation for functions, and am constantly frustrated on how you can't search Google for them. Try searching for "perl $!" and you won't get any pages referring to Perl's error handling function. Not even results referencing Perl code that uses it. Google just ignores it.

qntm• 15 years ago

I'm reasonably sure that Google doesn't index punctuation marks.

il• 15 years ago

Actually, a big point of pride for Google in the early days was that you could search for "C++" and get relevant results.

Rhapso• 15 years ago

do search for negative 42. spell the word out. if you are lucky then google will pick up the integer -42 as a synonym and search it too.

narb• 15 years ago

Punctuation is generally ignored in searches (some exceptions: _, +, $ and # in limited contexts, e.g. "C++", "$1000000" and "F#"; the calculator; word separators, e.g. "a=b", "a/b", "a}b", etc.; Google Code Search)

http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer... http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer...

win_ini• 15 years ago

C'mon...you've now gotta tell us why you were searching for "-42"...

ksolanki• 15 years ago

search for minus 42.

thewordpainter• 15 years ago

this reminds me of the worst band name of all-time: !!!

they're actually fairly popular for those that aren't familiar, but i can only imagine how many potential fans they've lost because you can't readily find their online presences.

Ask HN: How do you search for "-42" in Google?

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