A to Z

Fuck from A to Z

Compounds, phrases, abbreviations and derivatives. Dates are first recorded uses where a reliable one is known, chiefly from Sheidlower's The F-Word and the OED; "c." means approximately; "20th c." means nobody has pinned it down. Entries marked with a warning are offensive beyond the ordinary.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

absofuckinglutely

Absolutely, with an infix. The textbook example of expletive infixation; recorded from the 1920s.

AF

As fuck. Internet intensifier: tired AF. 2010s.

ass-fuck / arse-fuck

Anal intercourse. Literal.

B

batshit / bugfuck

Bugfuck: crazy. US military and Southern slang, 1960s. Usually paired with crazy.

brainfuck

Something baffling or disturbing; also an esoteric programming language (1993) with eight commands.

bumfuck

A remote, nowhere place: Bumfuck, Egypt or Bumfuck, Idaho. US, 1970s. Also BFE.

C

clusterfuck

A chaotic, many-sided failure. US military, 1960s; earlier a group sex sense. Now standard business English behind closed doors.

cluster-fucked

Suffering the effects of a clusterfuck.

D

DILLIGAF

Do I look like I give a fuck? Military and biker abbreviation, 1990s.

dumbfuck

A stupid person. US, mid-20th century.

E

eff / effing

The letter F standing for the whole word. Effing and blinding: swearing steadily. British, 1940s.

F-bomb

The word itself, treated as ordnance: he dropped the F-bomb. US, 1980s; associated with sports broadcasting.

F

FAFO

Fuck around and find out. Provoke and suffer the consequences. Southern US saying, popularised online in the late 2010s.

feck

Irish and Scots. Originally to steal or to throw; now a mild stand-in for fuck. Rated mild by the BBFC. See Around the world.

FFS

For fuck's sake. Text and internet, 1990s.

FML

Fuck my life. Popularised by the website fmylife.com, 2009.

FNG

Fucking new guy. US military, Vietnam era.

for fuck's sake

Exasperation. Modelled on for God's sake. Recorded from the 1940s.

fubar

Fucked up beyond all recognition (or repair). US forces, 1944. Now a standard word in engineering.

fuck a duck

Exclamation of surprise. 1930s.

fuck-all

Nothing. British and Irish, 1918. Sweet fuck-all, formed on sweet Fanny Adams.

fuck around

To waste time; to be promiscuous. US, 1920s.

fuck about

To waste time or mess around. British, 1920s.

fuck-buddy

A friend one has sex with, without a relationship. US, 1990s; friend with benefits is the polite form.

fuckboy / fuckboi

A shallow, manipulative young man. From hip-hop (2000s) via Tumblr and Twitter, mainstream by 2014. Earlier prison slang with a different sense.

fucked

Broken, exhausted, doomed, or drunk.

fucked up

Wrong, broken, intoxicated, or emotionally damaged. Sense depends entirely on the noun.

fucker

A person, contemptible or merely referred to; also any troublesome object: the fucker won't start. As a term of abuse from the 16th century.

fuckery

Nonsense, trickery, shenanigans. Jamaican and Black British usage, popularised in the 2000s; Amy Winehouse's "Me and Mr Jones" (2006) put it on record.

fuckface / fuckhead

A contemptible person. US, 1940s.

fuck-fest

An orgy; figuratively, a chaotic excess of anything.

fuckin' A

Emphatic agreement (fucking affirmative). US forces, Second World War.

fucking

The intensifier. See Grammar. 1528.

fuck it

Resignation or reckless decision. Fuck it, I'll do it.

fuck knows

Nobody knows.

fuck me

Astonishment, never a request. Fuck me sideways, fuck me gently with a chainsaw (Heathers, 1988).

fuck-me shoes / boots

Provocative footwear. 1970s; attributed to Germaine Greer.

fuck off

Go away (1929); also to leave: he fucked off. As an adjective, very large: a big fuck-off knife (British, 1980s).

fuck over

To treat badly, cheat. US, 1960s.

fuckstick

An idiot. US, late 20th century.

fuck this shit

Total resignation. Also a meme.

fuckton

A very large amount. 2000s, modelled on shitload; the metric fuckton is larger.

fuck up

To blunder (1916, soldiers); as a noun, a fuck-up, a mistake or a person who makes them.

fuck with

To interfere with, or to provoke. US, 1960s.

fuck yeah / fuck yes

Emphatic enthusiasm. Popularised by a wave of "Fuck Yeah" Tumblr blogs from 2008.

fuck you

The shortest complete hostile sentence in English. Also fuck you very much.

fuck-you money

Enough money to walk away from any job. US, 1970s.

fuckwad

An idiot. US, 1970s.

fuckwit

An idiot. Australian and British, 1960s.

fugly

Fucking ugly. US, 1970s.

fug

Norman Mailer's publisher-imposed spelling in The Naked and the Dead (1948). The Fugs, a 1960s band, took their name from it.

G

give a fuck

To care, always negated. I don't give a fuck, 1920s. Zero fucks given, no fucks to give, fresh out of fucks: 2010s.

GTFO

Get the fuck out. Internet, 2000s.

go fuck yourself

Hostile dismissal, immortalised in the US Senate in 2004. See Politics.

H

headfuck

Something bewildering. British, 1980s. See mindfuck.

holy fuck

Astonishment. Also a Canadian band.

I

IDGAF

I don't give a fuck. Text and internet.

J

JFC

Jesus fucking Christ. Internet abbreviation.

K

KMFDM

Not what fans assume. The band's name is German, Kein Mehrheit für die Mitleid. Included because everyone asks.

L

LMFAO

Laughing my fucking arse off. Internet, 1990s.

M

MILF

Mother I'd like to fuck. 1990s; mainstream after American Pie (1999). Now also DILF, GILF.

mindfuck

A bewildering or manipulative experience. US counterculture, 1960s.

motherfucker

The strongest compound; a person, an object, or a term of admiration (a bad motherfucker). First recorded 1918; in Black American speech before that. Also motherfucking, mofo, MF, muthafucka.

N

O

OMFG

Oh my fucking God. Internet.

P

pigfucker

Extreme abuse. Rare outside Hunter S. Thompson.

R

ratfuck

Political dirty tricks. University of Southern California student slang in the 1960s, carried into the Nixon White House by Donald Segretti and Dwight Chapin. Also, earlier, a chaotic situation.

S

skullfuck

Violent abuse; figuratively, to overwhelm.

snafu

Situation normal, all fucked up. US forces, 1941. Now a polite word for a mix-up, used by people who have no idea.

STFU

Shut the fuck up. Internet, 1990s.

T

tarfu

Things are really fucked up. Second World War; sibling of snafu and fubar.

the fuck

Intensifier in questions and commands: what the fuck; get the fuck out; the fuck you will.

U

unfuck

To repair, fix, sort out. US military: unfuck yourself.

unfuckable

Sexually undesirable; also of a plan, unable to be ruined.

W

windfucker

A kestrel, so called because it beats against the wind. 1599. The gentler word windhover replaced it, and Gerard Manley Hopkins made a poem of that one instead.

WTF

What the fuck. Usenet, 1985. Also WTAF (what the actual fuck).

Z

zero fucks

See give a fuck. The 2010s formulation of total indifference.