Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) used as interrog. phr. to indicate one’s incomprehension.

1901		H. Lawson ‘His Brother’s Keeper’ in Roderick (1972) 525: What the — do you mean by coming into my bar and interfering with he, Who the — are you anyway?
1939		V. Davis Gentlemen of the Broad Arrows 55: ‘What the — is this?’ exclaimed the astonished warder.
1942		H. Miller Roofs of Paris (1983) 46: What the fuck’s wrong with you bozos, anyway?
1955		E. Hunter Blackboard Jungle 175: So wat the fuck you think?
a.1963		‘The Fall’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 87: I heard a thunder that the door shook under / And wondered what the fuck it could be.
1968		J. Carroll ‘from a diary’ in Adventures in Poetry July n.p.: They beat us during the regular season and won that but what the fuck did they have the playoffs for if they were not going to give out anything for them.
1970		E. Tidyman Shaft 197: He could remember the ten thousand dollars [...] What the fuck good was it?
1973		D. Goines Street Players 215: Woman, what the fuck are you doing here?
1988		Viz Oct.–Nov. 32: What the fuck are you playing at?
1993		Tarantino & Avery Pulp Fiction [film script] 88: What the fuck do you think I’m doing?!
1994		P. Quigley Borderland 180: What the blue fuck did you mean?
1999		Guardian Weekend 12 June 23: Whoaaah? What the fuck is that?
2009		J. Joso Soothing Music for Stray Cats 11: And just what the fuck was going through Jim’s stupid bastard head?
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 185: Fuck is everyone crying about?
2015		P. Doyle (con. 1969-1973) Big Whatever 23: The bikey [...] clocked the crazy tableau and said, ‘The fuck’s this?’.
2017		A. Parks Bloody January 82: ‘Fuck’s up with you, McCoy?’.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 5: We’re talking to Tyrell like whatdafuck, man [...] that was a mad ting.
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 37: I said to the guy, what the fuck are you doing with this?
2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 66: ‘Shit you looking at, cracker-ass motherfucker?’.

2. in attrib. use of sense 1.

2010

Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 234: It is so far from what Gio expects to hear that he breaks character with a ‘what the fuck?’ look at me.