Is there a word for when you are attempting to google something but can't find the necessary phrase/key words...












0















I occasionally run in to the problem. Generally when I'm attempting to achieve something in programming which I know to be possible and also is likely to have been accomplished before. I generally find my specific problem is obviously not going to appear but to frame the problem in general terms makes it almost unintelligible to a person, never mind google.
As an example - "How to check relevance of changes in each attribute to changes in the result"



Sadly attempting to Google the word to describe this phenomenon yielded no answer, possible in a very meta example of the described problem.










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  • 1





    In slang terminology, some people would say that they have poor (skill at) Google-fu . . .

    – Jason Bassford
    10 hours ago








  • 1





    Try googling "sensitivity study" or "statistical correlation"

    – Jim
    9 hours ago











  • Sounds like you want a word for the phrase "weak Google-fu". See: english.stackexchange.com/questions/19967/…

    – L. Scott Johnson
    8 hours ago











  • Is it a word for trouble with a specific search, or a word for lack of google-skills in general?

    – Stefan
    8 hours ago








  • 1





    Are you referring to searching when you lack the specific jargon to find the problem? Like trying to implement inheritance in a class but not knowing what you're doing is called "inheritance".

    – tk421
    6 hours ago
















0















I occasionally run in to the problem. Generally when I'm attempting to achieve something in programming which I know to be possible and also is likely to have been accomplished before. I generally find my specific problem is obviously not going to appear but to frame the problem in general terms makes it almost unintelligible to a person, never mind google.
As an example - "How to check relevance of changes in each attribute to changes in the result"



Sadly attempting to Google the word to describe this phenomenon yielded no answer, possible in a very meta example of the described problem.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Alex is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1





    In slang terminology, some people would say that they have poor (skill at) Google-fu . . .

    – Jason Bassford
    10 hours ago








  • 1





    Try googling "sensitivity study" or "statistical correlation"

    – Jim
    9 hours ago











  • Sounds like you want a word for the phrase "weak Google-fu". See: english.stackexchange.com/questions/19967/…

    – L. Scott Johnson
    8 hours ago











  • Is it a word for trouble with a specific search, or a word for lack of google-skills in general?

    – Stefan
    8 hours ago








  • 1





    Are you referring to searching when you lack the specific jargon to find the problem? Like trying to implement inheritance in a class but not knowing what you're doing is called "inheritance".

    – tk421
    6 hours ago














0












0








0








I occasionally run in to the problem. Generally when I'm attempting to achieve something in programming which I know to be possible and also is likely to have been accomplished before. I generally find my specific problem is obviously not going to appear but to frame the problem in general terms makes it almost unintelligible to a person, never mind google.
As an example - "How to check relevance of changes in each attribute to changes in the result"



Sadly attempting to Google the word to describe this phenomenon yielded no answer, possible in a very meta example of the described problem.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Alex is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












I occasionally run in to the problem. Generally when I'm attempting to achieve something in programming which I know to be possible and also is likely to have been accomplished before. I generally find my specific problem is obviously not going to appear but to frame the problem in general terms makes it almost unintelligible to a person, never mind google.
As an example - "How to check relevance of changes in each attribute to changes in the result"



Sadly attempting to Google the word to describe this phenomenon yielded no answer, possible in a very meta example of the described problem.







single-word-requests






share|improve this question









New contributor




Alex is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




Alex is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




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edited 5 hours ago









GerardFalla

73710




73710






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asked 10 hours ago









AlexAlex

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41




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New contributor





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Check out our Code of Conduct.






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Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 1





    In slang terminology, some people would say that they have poor (skill at) Google-fu . . .

    – Jason Bassford
    10 hours ago








  • 1





    Try googling "sensitivity study" or "statistical correlation"

    – Jim
    9 hours ago











  • Sounds like you want a word for the phrase "weak Google-fu". See: english.stackexchange.com/questions/19967/…

    – L. Scott Johnson
    8 hours ago











  • Is it a word for trouble with a specific search, or a word for lack of google-skills in general?

    – Stefan
    8 hours ago








  • 1





    Are you referring to searching when you lack the specific jargon to find the problem? Like trying to implement inheritance in a class but not knowing what you're doing is called "inheritance".

    – tk421
    6 hours ago














  • 1





    In slang terminology, some people would say that they have poor (skill at) Google-fu . . .

    – Jason Bassford
    10 hours ago








  • 1





    Try googling "sensitivity study" or "statistical correlation"

    – Jim
    9 hours ago











  • Sounds like you want a word for the phrase "weak Google-fu". See: english.stackexchange.com/questions/19967/…

    – L. Scott Johnson
    8 hours ago











  • Is it a word for trouble with a specific search, or a word for lack of google-skills in general?

    – Stefan
    8 hours ago








  • 1





    Are you referring to searching when you lack the specific jargon to find the problem? Like trying to implement inheritance in a class but not knowing what you're doing is called "inheritance".

    – tk421
    6 hours ago








1




1





In slang terminology, some people would say that they have poor (skill at) Google-fu . . .

– Jason Bassford
10 hours ago







In slang terminology, some people would say that they have poor (skill at) Google-fu . . .

– Jason Bassford
10 hours ago






1




1





Try googling "sensitivity study" or "statistical correlation"

– Jim
9 hours ago





Try googling "sensitivity study" or "statistical correlation"

– Jim
9 hours ago













Sounds like you want a word for the phrase "weak Google-fu". See: english.stackexchange.com/questions/19967/…

– L. Scott Johnson
8 hours ago





Sounds like you want a word for the phrase "weak Google-fu". See: english.stackexchange.com/questions/19967/…

– L. Scott Johnson
8 hours ago













Is it a word for trouble with a specific search, or a word for lack of google-skills in general?

– Stefan
8 hours ago







Is it a word for trouble with a specific search, or a word for lack of google-skills in general?

– Stefan
8 hours ago






1




1





Are you referring to searching when you lack the specific jargon to find the problem? Like trying to implement inheritance in a class but not knowing what you're doing is called "inheritance".

– tk421
6 hours ago





Are you referring to searching when you lack the specific jargon to find the problem? Like trying to implement inheritance in a class but not knowing what you're doing is called "inheritance".

– tk421
6 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















0














We say that your search terms are too broad. You need to find a narrower search term.






share|improve this answer
























  • That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

    – puppetsock
    5 hours ago











  • @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

    – TRomano
    5 hours ago





















0














There probably isn't a single word for this.



As TRomano suggests, a too broad search will give you vast quantities of unrelated hits.



Compare:



How to program in C++



How to open an input stream in C++



The first will get you lots and lots of hits, and somewhere in there probably you will find, after heroic efforts, the information from the second.



But several other things are possible. For example: Used the wrong name for the concept. Recently I wanted to know how to write a good scripting language. So I searched for this



how to write a good scripting language



And I got tons of hits on how to break into writing for TV. Along with tons of references to existing scripting languages such as Python, PERL, and JAVA. But when I changed my search to this



how to implement a domain specific language



then the search results had ten useful hits right at the top. There are many ways to express this. Mis-focused search, inaccurate search, poorly targeted search, conceptually inaccurate search, terminologically inaccurate search, etc.



Generally, if you search for a phrase that the Google search people have noticed being searched for, you are going to get useful hits at the top. Otherwise, you will be in relatively uncharted territory. So this means terms like out of bounds, unexpected, into unprepared territory, etc.






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    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    0














    We say that your search terms are too broad. You need to find a narrower search term.






    share|improve this answer
























    • That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

      – puppetsock
      5 hours ago











    • @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

      – TRomano
      5 hours ago


















    0














    We say that your search terms are too broad. You need to find a narrower search term.






    share|improve this answer
























    • That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

      – puppetsock
      5 hours ago











    • @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

      – TRomano
      5 hours ago
















    0












    0








    0







    We say that your search terms are too broad. You need to find a narrower search term.






    share|improve this answer













    We say that your search terms are too broad. You need to find a narrower search term.







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered 10 hours ago









    TRomanoTRomano

    15.1k21943




    15.1k21943













    • That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

      – puppetsock
      5 hours ago











    • @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

      – TRomano
      5 hours ago





















    • That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

      – puppetsock
      5 hours ago











    • @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

      – TRomano
      5 hours ago



















    That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

    – puppetsock
    5 hours ago





    That would apply if you were getting too many hits to the wrong topics so that the answer you wanted was buried in many other hits. It would not apply if the thing you really needed was not called what you thought. So even if you looked at a huge number of the hits your search found you would not find what you wanted.

    – puppetsock
    5 hours ago













    @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

    – TRomano
    5 hours ago







    @puppetsock: So OP is asking for a word that means "I don't what the word for this thing is?"

    – TRomano
    5 hours ago















    0














    There probably isn't a single word for this.



    As TRomano suggests, a too broad search will give you vast quantities of unrelated hits.



    Compare:



    How to program in C++



    How to open an input stream in C++



    The first will get you lots and lots of hits, and somewhere in there probably you will find, after heroic efforts, the information from the second.



    But several other things are possible. For example: Used the wrong name for the concept. Recently I wanted to know how to write a good scripting language. So I searched for this



    how to write a good scripting language



    And I got tons of hits on how to break into writing for TV. Along with tons of references to existing scripting languages such as Python, PERL, and JAVA. But when I changed my search to this



    how to implement a domain specific language



    then the search results had ten useful hits right at the top. There are many ways to express this. Mis-focused search, inaccurate search, poorly targeted search, conceptually inaccurate search, terminologically inaccurate search, etc.



    Generally, if you search for a phrase that the Google search people have noticed being searched for, you are going to get useful hits at the top. Otherwise, you will be in relatively uncharted territory. So this means terms like out of bounds, unexpected, into unprepared territory, etc.






    share|improve this answer




























      0














      There probably isn't a single word for this.



      As TRomano suggests, a too broad search will give you vast quantities of unrelated hits.



      Compare:



      How to program in C++



      How to open an input stream in C++



      The first will get you lots and lots of hits, and somewhere in there probably you will find, after heroic efforts, the information from the second.



      But several other things are possible. For example: Used the wrong name for the concept. Recently I wanted to know how to write a good scripting language. So I searched for this



      how to write a good scripting language



      And I got tons of hits on how to break into writing for TV. Along with tons of references to existing scripting languages such as Python, PERL, and JAVA. But when I changed my search to this



      how to implement a domain specific language



      then the search results had ten useful hits right at the top. There are many ways to express this. Mis-focused search, inaccurate search, poorly targeted search, conceptually inaccurate search, terminologically inaccurate search, etc.



      Generally, if you search for a phrase that the Google search people have noticed being searched for, you are going to get useful hits at the top. Otherwise, you will be in relatively uncharted territory. So this means terms like out of bounds, unexpected, into unprepared territory, etc.






      share|improve this answer


























        0












        0








        0







        There probably isn't a single word for this.



        As TRomano suggests, a too broad search will give you vast quantities of unrelated hits.



        Compare:



        How to program in C++



        How to open an input stream in C++



        The first will get you lots and lots of hits, and somewhere in there probably you will find, after heroic efforts, the information from the second.



        But several other things are possible. For example: Used the wrong name for the concept. Recently I wanted to know how to write a good scripting language. So I searched for this



        how to write a good scripting language



        And I got tons of hits on how to break into writing for TV. Along with tons of references to existing scripting languages such as Python, PERL, and JAVA. But when I changed my search to this



        how to implement a domain specific language



        then the search results had ten useful hits right at the top. There are many ways to express this. Mis-focused search, inaccurate search, poorly targeted search, conceptually inaccurate search, terminologically inaccurate search, etc.



        Generally, if you search for a phrase that the Google search people have noticed being searched for, you are going to get useful hits at the top. Otherwise, you will be in relatively uncharted territory. So this means terms like out of bounds, unexpected, into unprepared territory, etc.






        share|improve this answer













        There probably isn't a single word for this.



        As TRomano suggests, a too broad search will give you vast quantities of unrelated hits.



        Compare:



        How to program in C++



        How to open an input stream in C++



        The first will get you lots and lots of hits, and somewhere in there probably you will find, after heroic efforts, the information from the second.



        But several other things are possible. For example: Used the wrong name for the concept. Recently I wanted to know how to write a good scripting language. So I searched for this



        how to write a good scripting language



        And I got tons of hits on how to break into writing for TV. Along with tons of references to existing scripting languages such as Python, PERL, and JAVA. But when I changed my search to this



        how to implement a domain specific language



        then the search results had ten useful hits right at the top. There are many ways to express this. Mis-focused search, inaccurate search, poorly targeted search, conceptually inaccurate search, terminologically inaccurate search, etc.



        Generally, if you search for a phrase that the Google search people have noticed being searched for, you are going to get useful hits at the top. Otherwise, you will be in relatively uncharted territory. So this means terms like out of bounds, unexpected, into unprepared territory, etc.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 5 hours ago









        puppetsockpuppetsock

        1814




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