Why do I get errors when I try to ask certain questions?

It depends on what it says when you get this "error". You may have a bad cache file on your system. You can try this, it can help. It has worked for others. You should do it regularly anyway. Make sure you do all four steps.

1. Log off YA, and get off Yahoo pages.

2. Clean internet cache files and cookies

3. Delete all temp files

4. Reboot your computer

Also make sure your Flash and Java Updates are current.

Do all the steps to make sure you get the offending file.

It seems that certain words and/or phrases ARE flagged ... yes.

But there's no official statement on that. I tested it for myself once, a few years ago, by attempting to post a question containing the name of a prominent elected official AND a reference to an act of violence, and it would NOT post, no matter how many times I tried.

Most of us think there's a filter, and that sometimes a question is held for review ... and it may post later, or not at all. If it does, it may be several (or many) pages back on the open questions queue ... again, that's not 'official', just what seems to be the case.

The new version allows you to enter too many characters in the main question area. This causes an error if your textbox string is longer then the actual string that can be passed to Yahoo's question database.

Often it's Yahoo's editing software that arbitrarily flags questions as "violations." Sometimes if you reword a question, it slips through. Or if you post it in "polls & surveys", which is a much less restrictive category. If they can't come up with a logical reason for the violation, they call it "chatting," a catch-all reason. Then there are pencil-necks and reporter trolls, fellow users who are obsessed with making sure other people follow the "rules."