What I think you're looking for is -{2}. That specifically says: Look for two of the '-' character, in a row. Similarly, you could have (Bob){2} that would look for two 'Bob's in a row, as in BobBob.

You can also set limits with curly braces. You want something that can take a two or four-digit year? \d{2,4}

You want something that will match a string that you are guaranteed is at least 5 characters long, but you're not sure how long it may be? \w{5,}

Hope this helps.