/( # start selection \w{3} # Tue \s # one space \w{3} # Sep \s+ # one or more spaces \d+ # 5 (day, one or more digits) \s # one space \d+:\d+:\d+ # 10:26:44 \s+ # one or more spaces (?:\w+\s+)? # optional timezone GMT \d+ # year ) # end of selection /x # x - allows whitespace in regexp