Backward Locate
A backward LOCATE works just like the LOCATE command, except the editor searches backward (toward the top of file) rather than forward (toward the end of file).
In your camping file, the current line is now the End of File line. Suppose you wanted to use a LOCATE command to locate the word EAR. That line is in a backward direction (toward the top of the file) from the current line. You know that you could enter a TOP command so that the search would start on the line following the current line. You can also ask the editor to search in a backward direction from the current line. You do this by typing a minus sign (-) before the slash (/).
====> L -/ ear /
You typed a space between the last slash and ear. This command tells the editor that you want only the word EAR. If you enteredL -/ ear/ without a space before the slash at the end of the command, the editor would look for the word EAR and for the letters EAR at the beginning of a word.