Once again, I don't understand the Math Overflow poster's exact situation.
But roughly speaking, imagine you have two functions f(t) and g(t), which are described in completely different ways, and you want to prove that f(t) = g(t). If you try and fail, then you might instead aim for a proof that the difference between f and g is bounded, or that f(t) = O(g(t)) and vice versa, or that the limit of the ratio between f and g is 1, or something along these lines.
In many cases, such partial results are also of interest. In general, partial successes in math are considered to be successes.
But in some cases, partial results aren't really considered all that interesting -- or perhaps are known already or can be obtained very easily.
But roughly speaking, imagine you have two functions f(t) and g(t), which are described in completely different ways, and you want to prove that f(t) = g(t). If you try and fail, then you might instead aim for a proof that the difference between f and g is bounded, or that f(t) = O(g(t)) and vice versa, or that the limit of the ratio between f and g is 1, or something along these lines.
In many cases, such partial results are also of interest. In general, partial successes in math are considered to be successes.
But in some cases, partial results aren't really considered all that interesting -- or perhaps are known already or can be obtained very easily.