trim_phrase

#!/usr/bin/python
"""
trim_phrase "[string you want to strip]" "phrase that will be stripped"
    - trims the string passed as first argument using the given phrase
trim_phrase "phrase that will be stripped"
    - trims stdin using the given phrase

ej: trim_phrase "test this is a test test" "test"  ->  " this is a test "
"""
import sys


def strip_phrase(string, phrase):
    if string.endswith(phrase):
        string = string[:len(string)-len(phrase)]
    if string.startswith(phrase):
        string = string[len(phrase):]
    return string

args = sys.argv[1:]
if len(args) == 2:
    string_to_strip = args[0]
    trim = args[1]
    print(strip_phrase(string_to_strip, trim))
elif len(args) == 1:
    trim = args[0]
    for line in sys.stdin.readlines():
        if line[-1] == "\n":
            print(strip_phrase(line[:-1], trim) + "\n")
        else:
            print(strip_phrase(line, trim))
else:
    print(__doc__)