Google-fu

• google-fu, Google fu, google fu

Google +‎ -fu (suffix indicating expertise or mastery)

Google-fu (uncountable)

1. (informal) Skill in using search engines (especially Google) to quickly find useful information on the Internet.
   • 2006, Johnny Long, Max Moser, Penetration Tester's Open Source Toolkit‎, Syngress, →ISBN, 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, 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 May 5, Kevin Drum, “Political Animal: Corporate Welfare in the Oil Patch”, in Washington Monthly:

     ... 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 August 6, Robin Abrahams, “Miss Conduct Chat”, in 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 October 16, Austin Modine, “Internet searches stimulate brain more than books: Assuming good Google-fu”, in The Register:

     [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.

   • 2015, Gretchen McNeil, Get Dirty, HarperCollins, →ISBN:

     Kitty sighed. “It's worth looking into.” She pointed at the nearest computer. “Ed, I need your Googlefu.” Ed swung around and poised his fingers over the keyboard.

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.

• -fu