English

Alternative forms

• google-fu, Google fu, google fu

Noun

Google-fu ‎(uncountable)

1. Skill in using search engines (especially Google) to quickly find useful information on the Internet.
   • 2006, Johnny Long and Max Moser, Penetration Tester's Open Source Toolkit, Syngress, ISBN 1597490210, page 107:

     If you need to brush up on your Google-fu, check out Google Hacking for Penetration Testing from the talented and modest Johnny Long.

   • 2007, Eli Neiburger, Gamers... in the Library?!, ALA Editions, ISBN 0838909442, page 3:

     ... they think they have all the Google-fu they'll ever need ...

   • 2007, Ben Grabow, "Big Brother Is Watching You Google", Scripps Howard News Service, May 9, E. W. Scripps:

     Coworkers seek out my Googling abilities. My Google-Fu is strong.

   • 2008, Kevin Drum, "Political Animal: Corporate Welfare in the Oil Patch", Washington Monthly, May 5:

     ... one thing that I did notice when I was doing a little google-fu on the issue is that there appears to be approximately 20 to 50 billion dollars spent by the federal government ...

   • 2008, Robin Abrahams, "Miss Conduct Chat", August 6, The Boston Globe:

     Oh, dang, I blogged about this once and can't find my blog post now (anyone with better Google-fu than I want to help?)

   • 2008, Austin Modine, "Internet searches stimulate brain more than books: Assuming good Google-fu", The Register, October 16:

     [Gary] Small suggests the inexperienced may register less brain activity because they haven't yet figured out the right strategies required to perform a successful search. In other words, their Google-fu is weak.

Usage notes

Google-fu is often used as a generic term applying to any search engine, and is frequently written in the lowercase form, google-fu. Reliably published usage suggests some ambivalence on whether to place a hyphen between Google and fu.

Related terms

• -fu

English

Noun

google-fu ‎(uncountable)

1. Alternative form of Google-fu