Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a general intensifier, e.g. fucking idiot.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1906		Proc. Old Bailey 2 Apr. 278: While I was holding Taylor he said to Smith, ‘Stick that f—g chivvy into him,’ meaning a knife. That was the time when Potter pushed him off me. Taylor said, ‘I will gnaw you, you f—g bastard’.
1909		Proc. Old Bailey 12 Jan. 336: I went to him again and said, ‘Will you go?’ He said, ‘No, you f——g old bitch,’ at the same time striking me violently on the forehead with his fist.
1918		H.V. O’Brien diary 26 Sept. in Wine, Women and War (1926) 205: Hi, Tommy, ’ere’s one o’ yer fuckin’ English hofficers wants t’ be saluted. Kindly oblige!
1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 36: Fucking bar’s shut.
1930		(con. 1918) J. Hanley German Prisoner 8: These funkin’ bastards at the back; you never know what game they’re up to [Ibid.] 10: One of his unckin’ observation balloons at work.
1931		E. Blair ‘Hop-Picking Diary’ 2–19 Sept. in Complete Works X (1998) 223: They were the kind of people who are generally drunk on Saturday nights and who tack a ‘fucking’ on to every noun.
1932		(con. WWI) L. Mann Flesh in Armour 68: ‘Cheerful, ain’t it, bringing the troops to a —— graveyard’.
1934		B. Traven Death Ship 354: Why, for all the funking sons, didn’t you tell me this before, Pippip?
1934		H. Miller Tropic of Cancer (1963) 73: That woman of mine, she’s got no fucking gratitude.
1943		K. Amis letter 26 Oct. in Leader (2000) 7: I have got a fucking cough, a slight headache and intermittent toothache.
1966		T. Keyes All Night Stand 68: It’s a waste of fucking money.
1967		K. Tennant Tell Morning This 392: ‘Old Stripy’s been taking the invites pretty near all over the faking city’.
1968		(con. 1940s) G. Dutton Andy 18: Listen, sport. You only got forty-two days in this fucken boob. Me, I’m in here for eighteen months. [Ibid.] 118: ‘K’n Judas. Fucken Judas.’ Andy could just hear Scotty’s words behind the M.P.’s back.
1968		A. Buzo Norm and Ahmed (1973) 26: Fuckin’ boong.
1973		A. Salkey ‘Saturday in Kingston’ Jamaica (1983) 70: These fuckin’ people, / fucked as they are, / fuckin’ well believe / in immortality.
1978		A. Burgess 1985 (1980) 216: Shut it, shut it, or you’ll get my fucking fist in your fucking face.
1984		A. Sayle Train to Hell 11: Even if he hadn’t paid good hard-earned fucking money for it.
1988		(con. WWII) J. Robinson Jack and Jamie Go to War 57: The fackin wogs used to give me a shave before they brought the gunsmoke in.
1992		D. Jarman diary 8 July Smiling in Slow Motion (2000) 166: I’m one of your fucking poofs and if you don’t get off the fucking bus now I’ll kick your fucking head in.
1994		J. O’Connor Secret World of the Irish Male (1995) 58: ‘Farking maad,’ he grinned. ‘Maad fat funking bawstidd, innee?’ [Ibid.] 94: You wonna see wot vem farking Arabs ’ave in their cases, mate.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 26: The fucken uniforms are bad enough!
2004		T. Winton ‘Defender’ in Turning (2005) 312: The boy called him five kinds of fucking cunt.
2006		R. Antoni Carnival 13: Out of my league. Out of my focking mind.
2010		Sun. Times 19 Dec. 5/2: After being fined £2,500 over her pet dog’s attack on a sunbathing student, a senior judge stormed out of court [...] claiming its decision was a ‘f****** [sic] travesty’.
2012		IOL News (S. Afr.) 5 Sept. 🌐 F*cken prick - we are already paying for Zuma’s million wives.
2012		J. Fagan Panopticon (2013) 168: ‘You’ve got a very astute, intelligent head on your shoulders.’ ‘Fucking hardly’.
2014		me-stepmums-too-fuckin-hot-mate at www.fakku.net 🌐 Have a gander at those massive fuckin’ tits.
2016		Eve. Standard (London) 29 Feb. 🌐 These people, after all, are just fucking actors.
2019		S.M. Jones Lives Laid Away [ebook] ‘[Y]ou pathetic wankers are about three seconds away from a bloody fucking lawsuit!’.
2021		Breen & Conlon Hitmen 218: ‘I wonder why they’re [i.e. traffic lights showing red] so fucking long?’.
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 37: It was like a fucking piece of hard metal.
2023		A. Nette Orphan Road 43: ‘I don’t have any grand scheme. I want the fucking money’.

2. pertaining to sexual intercourse.

1871		‘The Queen and Louise’ in Bold (1979) 190: Said the Queen, ‘Now, my dear, your marriage draws near [...] So I feel that I should — as I promised I would — / Deliver some fucking advice.’.
1882		Cremorne I 19: To a house he lures her in, / Where a gaily jewelled woman, / Keeds some girls in fucking sin.
1939		H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn (1964) 218: I could well credit her with a pantheon of her own private fucking gods.

3. implying a variety of negatives, e.g. vile, despicable, unpleasant, corrupt, dirty.

1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 65: This whole goddamn life is just so much bullshit if you’re a shoe in this lousy, fuckin’ country.
1966		P. Willmott Adolescent Boys of East London (1969) 87: Fucking Napoleon and all that crap.
1980		M. Thelwell Harder They Come 225: ‘Fucking maggot,’ Ivan cursed.
1990		Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 2: fuckin’ – unsuccessful, not living up to expectations.
2000		Guardian Weekend 29 Jan. 17: Fuckin’ French!

4. as infix -fucking- e.g. absofuckinglutely adv.; fanfuckingtastic adj.; guaranfuckingtee v.

1921		N&Q 12 Ser. IX 415: The soldier’s actual speech [...] was absolutely impregnated with one word which (to use it as a basis for alliteration) the fastidious frown at as ‘filthy.’ [...] Words were split up to admit it : ‘absolutely’ became ‘abso------lutely,’ and Armentieres became ‘Armen------teers.’ ‘Bloody,’ so popular and helpful a word in civil life, quite lapsed as being too polite and inexpressive.
1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 121: The Sergeant stared: then whispered to himself, ‘Jesus fucking Christ.’.
1943		‘In The Moonlight’ in M. Page Kiss Me Goodnight, Sgt.-Major (1973) 122: By Christ all fucking mighty.
1957		Kerouac letter 1 Oct. in Charters II (1999) 66: Thousands of screaming interviewers [...] big articles in Saturday Review, in World Telly, everyfucking where, everybody mad.
1961		T. Taylor Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 148: ‘Hemp, of course! Indian fucking Hemp!’.
1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 62: Somebody better be careful, he gets himself infuckingvolved.
1968		(con. 1940s) G. Dutton Andy 147: A spanner slipped and a voice cursed. ‘Well fucken stay fucken done up if you’re so indefuckenpendent.’.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 13: For Christ’s fucking sake you’ve simply got to meet my Miss Pilgrim!
1972		G.V. Higgins Friends of Eddie Coyle 6: Test-firing’s all they ever had. Brand-fucking-new guns.
1973		G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 90: From you the Greek wants that. Infuckincredible.
1981		T. Wilkinson Down and Out 81: I fucking hate pheno-fucking-barbitone.
1984		G. Tate ‘Stagolee Versus the Proper Negro’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 51: Prince leaves you blinking trying to figure out how he got so much style, music, and sexuality together in Minnefunkin’sota.
1986		R.G. Barrett Real Thing 49: I’m lucky I’m a-fuckin’-live.
1986		J. Ellroy Suicide Hill 270: ‘Unfucking real!’ Joe [...] hurled the missile of good news straight at the sun.
1990		H. Kureishi Buddha of Suburbia 13: ‘Jesus fucking Christ!’ I whispered.
1991		J.T. Pickle Aus.-Amer. Dict. 2: As we were leaving the Aussie turned, doffed his hat, and with a grandiose bow sang out, ‘Sayo f—ing nara.’.
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 76: A-fucking-men.
1998		G. Burn Happy Like Murderers 333: Why don’t you fuck off and leave me a-fucking-lone.
2000		Hip-Hop Connection Jan./Feb. 96: So fucking what?
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 4: I wanna be un-fuckin-touchable.
2000		P. Temple Dead Point (2008) [ebook] Forget that, detective whatever the fuck you are. Whofuckingever. Piss off.
2002		R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 231: Les [...] You are un-fuckin-believable.
2007		C. Goffard Snitch Jacket 200: ‘Abomifuckingnation,’ I said.
2009		P. Temple Truth 64: . Embed? [...] Emfuckingbed?
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 20: Un-fucking-believable [...] That was the best, baby.
2010		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 8 Jan. 🌐 On my return to Canada I find people’s self expression really vulgar: ‘won-fucking-derful’.
2010		K. Barry ‘Fjord of Killary’ in New Yorker 24 Jan. 🌐 ‘It’s end-of-the-fucking-world stuff out there,’ I said.
2012		J. Fagan Panopticon (2013) 32: Paris. Defi-fucking-nately.
2015		J. Stahl OG Dad 136: Tou-fucking-ché!
2017		A. Parks Bloody January 236: ‘It’s not fucking on’.
2019		M. Herron Joe Country [ebook] ‘Gadfuckingzooks’.
2021		Breen & Conlon Hitmen 230: ‘You’re going to get us fucking nicked [...] wake fucking up’.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 129: [A] packet about the requirements and the benefits Benefuckingfits! and explained everything.