Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US, also gee) 1000 (usu. dollars or pounds) [abbr. grand n.].

1928		J. O’Connor Broadway Racketeers 182: They had me in the bag for nearly ten G’s.
1936		(ref. to 1918) L. Duncan Over the Wall 21: I learned quickly that a dollar bill was a fish-skin [...] and a thousand dollar bill was a Gee.
1937		J. Tully Bruiser 235: I want five Gs in the referee’s pool.
1942		N. Algren Never Come Morning (1988) 231: He just win ten ‘g’s at Washington Park.
1948		H. McCoy Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in Four Novels (1983) 119: She needs doctors and nurses and a place to live [...] Take six or seven gees for that.
1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 94: Val really thought he was going to get ten G’s from Johnny.
1959		W.C. Heinz Professional 223: It’ll cost them an extra ninety gees.
1964		Kerouac letter 9 Sept. in Charters II (1999) 382: Only hope you get enough money to realize the 2 G’s I owe you and THEN some.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 219: Suppose you had killed him for $75,000—would that have been worth it? Ain’t no bartender got 75 gees, I answered.
1973		E. Bunker No Beast So Fierce 119: ‘What’s the score worth?’ I interrupted. ‘Fifteen to twenty-five g’s.’.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 55: Walberto slipped me a gee.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 55: It was absolutely outrageous that the law was persecuting a guy like this for a lousy hundred G’s!
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 288: Don’t fret about the twenty-five gees.
1992		A. Duff One Night Out Stealing 131: I can buy three g’s worth and turn it into six—six? Hey, six grand, man.
1997		C. Newland Scholar 135: I’m gonna save at least ten gee before I go anywhere.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 110: They each weigh him in at about twelve gee each.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 76/1: G abbr. 3 (also G man) $1,000.
2009		Times Rev. 30 Apr. 23/3: Mr K. would receive ‘Gs’ – money – if he served ‘bird’ for saying Mr B. was not with him at the time.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 32: If you [...] try to deposit over ten gee, they’re meant to inform the authorities.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 327: ‘What are we looking at?’ [...] ‘Six G,’ he said.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘I’d pay an out-of-towner ten gees’.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 6: ‘Universal paid me ten g’s to keep the Rockster’s [i.e. Rock Hudson] name out of the story’.
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 205: ‘[C]all your rich bitch and get ten gees to my woman’.

2. (US gang) the multiple rape of a woman; usu. as pull a G, to engage in this [gangbang n. (1)].

1977

J. Allen Assault with a Deadly Weapon 62: All the boys would have sex with her. That’s called a gang bang, or pulling a G.

3. (UK black) a Giro cheque.

1999

(con. 1979–80) A. Wheatle Brixton Rock (2004) 31: Neither of them would receive any G’s from social security for a few days. [Ibid.] 37: Why the hell does my G have to come the same day as the blasted old people ram up the Post Office.

4. (US campus) a smart and attractive male.

1987

Eble Campus Sl. Spring 3: G – sexy bachelor. From GQ, Gentlemen’s Quarterly.

5. (US black, also G dog) a gangster.

1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 231: A G won’t even take a youngster with him when he sets out to grab another G.
1993		Dr Dre ‘Deeez Nuuuts’ 🎵 Check game from the notorious Compton G.
1995		Coolio ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ 🎵 I’m the kinda G all the homies wanna be like.
1999		Noreaga ‘Flagrant Cops’ 🎵 Hey yo the same old G.
2000		G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 33: A tombstone, on which was written, ‘Larry Willis, RIP,’ and below that, his eulogy: ‘Heaven for a G’.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 76/1: G abbr. 1 a gangster (in the general sense of a criminal) [...] 77/1: G dog (also G Dogg) n. a gangster (in the general sense of a criminal).
2003		50 Cent ‘In da Club’ 🎵 Hoe’s down, G’s up.
2016		Stormzy ‘Scary’ 🎵 Wanna be a G? Real thugs don’t cry, man.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 20: It [i.e. a murder] set a standard for the young g’s to live up to .

6. (US black, also gee) a friend, a partner; also as a term of address or praise.

1991		Eble Campus Sl. Fall.
1992		D. Burke Street Talk 2 37: Yo G! Good ta go, man.
1995		L. Stavsky et al. A2Z 41/1: Let’s roll, gee. The crew is chillin’ at my boy’s crib.
1996		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 3: G – noun of address for a friend: ‘Yo, G, let’s go uptown’.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 71: Hit this, G.
2003		J. Lethem Fortress of Solitude 113: You know this dude, G?
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 6: Inmates exchange intrixcate handshakes and formal titles: OG, young G, boo, bro, baby boy, brutha, dude, cuz, dawg, P, G, daddy, pimpin’, nigga, man, thug thizzle, my boy, my man, homie.
2017		Observer (London) New Rev. 19 Feb. 7/2: Louis Theroux is a G [...] I take my hat off to him.
2020		G. Krauze Who They Was 7: What’s in the wallet, fam, any p’s? and I’m like nah, just bare cards.

7. (US black) money.

1996		UGK ‘Ridin’ Dirty’ 🎵 You get the case and they [i.e. the police] get yo weight and yo G’s.
1997		‘Q’ Deadmeat 207: Them others is getting fat Gs for games.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 21: More words seem to be invented each week, faster than any Webster’s could keep track: ‘G’, ‘grip’, ‘bank’, ‘mail’ [...] It is the fecund vocabulary of desire.
2002		Cypress Hill Sl. Gloss. 🌐 g: girl, guy, gangster, money.
2003		Dizzee Rascal in Vice Mag. at Hyperdub.com 🌐 Mac 10’s are getting quite common. People who are making g’s need Mac 10’s. Murder rates are going to go up bwoy.
2013		K.Koke ‘Bring Me Down (Intro)’ 🎵 Please friend, I don't wanna squeeze 10 / I wanna make g’s I don't wanna see pen.

8. (N.Z. prison) a capsule of gold marijuana oil, thus G up, to use the oil for recreation.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 76/1: G abbr. 2 a capsule of gold marijuana oil [...] G up v. to get high on marijuana oil .

9. a G-string.

2003		www.thepantsman.com 🌐 Otherwise, head to the billiard tables and watch them [i.e. girls] bend over to make that difficult shot in ludicrously tight pants and G’s.
2007		L. Redhead Cherry Pie [ebook] Then it was onto the stage to[...] unclip the g [...] before finally removing it with a flourish.

10. see G-man under G adj.¹

11. see gee n.⁷

12. see Greek n. (8)