Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a euph. sfx used, with a single initial letter, to denote a variety of ‘unsayable’ synons. , e.g. the C–word, cunt n.; the F-word, fuck n.; also, often in a newspaper context, to denote a topic of importance, which has become so over-used as to become tediously clichéd, e.g. the M-word, Maastricht etc.

1988		Red and Black (University of Georgia student newspaper) 19 Apr. 4/2: On the sidewalk was a black lady, probably in her seventies [...] The guy, in the requisite Ray-Bans, decided to gun her down with an arsenal of Arby’s litter while shouting the dreaded ‘n’ word.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 157: For legal as well as social reasons, what often is referred to as the F-word was long excluded from conventional dictionaries.
1992		J. Mowry Way Past Cool 167: People got ‘done,’ ‘smoked,’ ‘iced,’ ‘wasted’ [...] But it just didn’t seem cool to use the M-word [i.e. murdered].
1999		J. Ridley Love Is a Racket 165: ‘Knew we shouldn’t have trusted a goddam nigger’ [...] Yellow had just used the N-word.
1999		Reuters 28 Oct. n.p.: Actor Mark Harmon’s use of the phrase ‘s––– happens’ was believed to be the first scripted, uncensored utterance of the ‘s’ word on a broadcast network series in prime time [...] Experts call it the latest example of network TV’s growing flirtation with profanity, the newest wrinkle of which is the routine use of bleeped-out but clearly recognisable expletives (including the ‘F’ word) on new Fox network comedy ‘Action.’.
2000		Wash. Post 15 Jan. A23: The national media invented the term ‘the n-word’ to keep from repeating a racial slur against African Americans on the evening news. This is a good thing, the word is offensive.
2002		J. Lerner You Got Nothing Coming 88: It’s pretty much business as usual until Lil G utter the M-word and the Hunger is weeping toward him like a molten lava flow. ‘Whatchusay ’bout my momma!’.
2003		K. Cage Gayle 52/1: A-word n. AIDS.
2007		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 4 Dec. 🌐 He was seriously feared, racist [...] and was liberal with the K-word.
2008		in J. Miller Getting Played 55: ‘The girls fear the guys that be out there constantly using the B-word [bitch] and constantly talkin’ about sex’.
2009		P. Temple Truth 224: ‘This city’s now a city-state, it’s like Venice once was and, dare I say it, just as … no, I won’t say it.’ ‘Is that the c-word? Corrupt?’.
2011		Talk Radio 702 on Cape Radio 2 Mar. [radio] He used the K-word [i.e. Kaffir].
2015		I. Welsh Decent Ride 32: Ye cannae bedroom-hop like the Juice felly an no ken the meaning ay the D-word [i.e. discretion].
2016		Eve. Standard (London) 7 Nov. 17/3: In the arena of swearing in the early Nineties women used the f-word 167 times per milion words.
2020		A. Trebek The Answer Is 29: Maurice was incapable of constructing even one sentence without using the f-word as a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an exclamation point.
2022		I. Fitzgerald Dirtbag, Massachusetts 84: He was gay, often called me the F-word [i.e. fag].
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 391: ‘...we got a top analyst stepping up to the plate... working like an n-word on geographical distributions and relative demographies’ [ibid.] 765: ‘I was sacked. Sacked’ [...] She said: ‘I didn’t like to - you know, to use the S word’.
2024		D. Swierczynski California Bear 99: [of leukaemia] Luckily, Violet had forgiven her for not sharing the news about her l-word diagnosis.