"F" Slang

freightshaker

General

CB-radio nickname for a Freightliner truck — often used with a wink, since older Freightliners had a reputation for a rougher ride than Kenworths or Peterbilts (hence the 'shaker' part). Today Freightliner is the biggest Class 8 manufacturer in North America by volume; the Cascadia is everywhere. The nickname stuck regardless.

fren

Internet

An intentionally misspelled 'friend', used warmly to refer to others in the crypto community.

frequency

General

How often you train — either how many times per week you visit the gym or how often you hit a given muscle group.

frequent flyer

General

ED slang for the patient who's back again, and again, and again. Sometimes it's chronic illness with no GP to fall back on. Sometimes it's mental health, addiction, or nowhere else to go. Sometimes it's just somebody who's worked out where the warmth and sandwiches are. Officially called 'super-utilisers' in polite write-ups; staff just say frequent flyer. A small handful drive a huge slice of total visits — one San Diego hospital found 3% of patients accounted for 16.5% of ED traffic.

fresa

General

Describes a snobby, preppy, upper-class person or manner; a 'fresa' talks and acts posh.

fresh

Music

Stylish, clean, and impressively well put together, especially in appearance or gear.

fresh meat

Street

A group of just-arrived prisoners who have not yet proven themselves. Carries a predatory connotation.

freshies

General

Fresh, untouched tracks in new powder snow, the first lines down a slope before anyone else. Racing for freshies is part of a powder morning.

freud squad

General

What the rest of the hospital calls the psychiatry department when they roll in for a consult. Half mockery, half affection — psych gets ribbed for the long interviews, the soft voices, and the fact that nobody else wants to manage the agitated patient in bed 4.

frictionmaxxing

Internet

Deliberately choosing the harder, less convenient option — cold showers, walking instead of driving, doing chores by hand — to build resilience and get out of your comfort zone.

friday fish fry

General

A weekly Friday dinner of battered, fried fish (cod, perch, haddock, or walleye) with sides, served at taverns and supper clubs.

friend of dorothy

General

A discreet code for a gay man, used when being out could get you arrested or worse. Asking 'are you a friend of Dorothy?' was a way to quietly find your people without saying the dangerous part out loud. It traces to Judy Garland — gay icon, and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz — though some point to the writer Dorothy Parker. The term dates back at least to World War II.

friend zone

Internet

The situation in which one person wants a romantic relationship but the other regards them only as a friend.

frit

General

Frightened. Old Midlands / East Midlands past-tense of 'fright' that the Black Country and Brum kept going. Made national news in 1983 when Margaret Thatcher — a Lincolnshire girl — barked 'Afraid? Frightened? Frit?' at Labour MPs in the Commons, which sent half of Fleet Street to the dictionary.

frog and toad

General

The road. Almost always in the phrase 'hit the frog and toad' — get moving, get on your way.

frog strangler

General

An extremely heavy, sudden downpour; a vivid Gulf-states term for torrential rain.

from downtown

General

Refers to a shot launched from the three-point area, far from the basket.

front

General

To act inauthentically — pretending to have money, interest, or toughness you don't. 'Stop fronting' calls out the fakery.

front door

General

The first truck in a convoy — eyes forward, calling out smokeys, weigh stations, and slowdowns up ahead. Position of responsibility. If the front door misses a bear, the whole line pays for it.

front leaning rest

General

The official name for the push-up position, into which troops are ordered as corrective physical training and made to hold.

front running

General

When a broker or trader uses advance knowledge of a pending client order to put on a position first, profiting from the price move that order will cause, then unwinding into the client's flow. A fiduciary breach and a securities violation. In crypto and DeFi the same idea shows up as MEV bots front-running pending transactions in the mempool.

fronteo

General

Acting pretentiously, showing off, or putting up a front to look bigger than you are.

frontin

Music

To pretend not to care when you actually do.

frontline

Gaming

The leading edge of your team, usually the tank, who makes space and eats the first wave of fire so the squishies behind can work.

frontside

General

A trick executed while facing toward the ramp or obstacle, or a rotation in which the toe edge (chest side) turns forward first.

frosty

General

Describes being cool-headed, alert, and watchful, especially on guard or in a tense tactical situation — 'stay frosty.'

frothing

General

The feeling of being hyped, excited or stoked, often to an over-the-top degree. A 'frother' is someone perpetually buzzing about surf.

frowsy

General

Having a stale, sweaty or musty odour. Also frowzy.

frozen rope

General

A batted ball hit so hard and on such a flat, straight line that it looks like a taut, stretched rope.

fruit salad

General

The multicolored array of service ribbons worn on the chest of a dress uniform, so called for its resemblance to a bowl of mixed fruit.

frunchroom

General

The front room or formal living room of a house, reserved for entertaining guests, rendered in the Chicago accent.

frutabomba

General

Cubans say 'frutabomba' for papaya because 'papaya' is vulgar slang there.

fssw

General

An identity label used inside the sex-work community to distinguish providers who offer penetrative sex from those doing adjacent work — strippers, cam models, OnlyFans creators, pro-doms. Carries weight in worker-rights discussions because FSSWs face the sharpest legal risk and stigma.

ftd

General

Black-humour chart-room acronym for the elderly, terminal patient who's been 'actively dying' for three weeks and is still on the ward. Sometimes parsed as 'Fixin' to Die.' Reflects the moral fatigue of geriatric and palliative work more than any cruelty — these are usually the patients staff care for most.

ftfy

Internet

Often passive-aggressive, rewriting someone's words to flip the meaning into your own opinion.

ftw

Internet

Stands for "for the win," tacked onto a statement to enthusiastically endorse something as the best choice.

fud

Internet

Negative sentiment, rumours or news, whether genuine or manufactured, that pressures people to sell. The label is often thrown at any critical take, warranted or not.

fudanshi

Internet

A man who is a fan of male-male romance manga and anime — the male counterpart to the fujoshi.

fudgie

General

A tourist in northern Michigan — especially Mackinac Island, Traverse City or the Mackinaw City strip — named for the slabs of fudge they inevitably leave with. Mildly affectionate, mildly eye-rolling. Locals know summer's started when the fudgies show up.

fuh true

General

An affirmation or an incredulous question ('fuh true?' = seriously?). Also 'in troot'.

fujoshi

Internet

A woman who is a devoted fan of male-male romance manga and anime. The word is self-deprecating, punning on a homophone meaning 'rotten girl'.

fula

General

Slang for hard currency or US dollars. As an adjective 'fula' means bad, ugly, or messed-up.

full

General

Describes muscles that appear big, round and pumped, typically from being well-fed and glycogen-loaded. The desirable opposite of 'flat'.

full album

Internet

A full-length studio release, in contrast to a mini album or single. Full albums are less frequent and often treated as major events.

full as a tick

General

Stuffed after a big meal, like a tick swollen with blood.

full bird

General

A colonel (O-6), whose insignia is an eagle, as opposed to a lieutenant colonel ('light colonel'). Also 'bird colonel' or 'full bull.'

full moon

General

Slang invoking the folk belief that emergency departments get busier and stranger during a full moon.

full service

General

Booking scope that includes penetrative sex, as distinct from stripping, lap dance, massage, domination, or oral-only services. The signal in an ad that the worker isn't a 'massage only' or 'fetish only' provider.