Find if any string element in list is contained in list of strings

Question

I need to create a script to accept/reject some text based on whether a list of strings is present in it.

I have a list of keywords that should be used as a rejection mechanism:

k_out = ['word1', 'word2', 'some larger text']

If any of those string elements is found in the list I present below, the list should be marked as rejected. This is the list that should be checked:

c_lst = ['This is some text that contains no rejected word', 'This is some larger text which means this list should be rejected']

This is what I've got:

flag_r = False
for text in k_out:
    for lst in c_lst:
        if text in lst:
            flag_r = True

is there a more pythonic way of going about this?

This question appears to be off-topic because it belongs on codereview.stackexchange.com — jonrsharpe
– jonrsharpe, Commented Jun 13, 2014 at 21:06
possible duplicate of Python - Remove any element from a list of strings that is a substring of another element — dg99
– dg99, Commented Jun 13, 2014 at 21:07
It may be a duplicate, but it got a better answer than the other question. — Vorticity
– Vorticity, Commented Jun 13, 2014 at 21:08
When thinking about string containment, don't forget to ask yourself if you really want string containment or word containment: ask yourself whether "name" should reject "enamel", etc. — DSM
– DSM, Commented Jun 13, 2014 at 21:08
@DSM that's a very good point because in fact it shouldn't. Would you expand a bit on the difference please? — Gabriel
– Gabriel, Commented Jun 13, 2014 at 21:10

user2555451 · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-13 21:06:28Z

6

You can use any and a generator expression:

>>> k_out = ['word1', 'word2', 'some larger text']
>>> c_lst = ['This is some text that contains no rejected word', 'This is some larger text which means this list should be rejected']
>>> any(keyword in string for string in c_lst for keyword in k_out)
True
>>>

answered Jun 13, 2014 at 21:06

user2555451

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3 Comments

smac89 Over a year ago

Does this really answer the question? The OP wants the list to be rejected if any of the words in the k_out list is found in the c_lst. The above code should have returned false if designed correctly

user2555451 Over a year ago

@Smac89 - It depends on how you interpret the question. The OP said "If any of those string elements is found...the list should be marked as rejected". I understood "string elements" to mean the substrings in k_out. You'll notice too that my solution produces the same output as the OP's. It is just a more compact way of doing it.

smac89 Over a year ago

whoops I didn't see the full list because I was viewing this on my phone. Ok I see why this works now

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