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There's a recently-created idiom to assert that one has skills, and I don't remember what it is. It sounds like it was created by a Millennial. I want to say it has either a martial-art or science-fiction vibe, but it might be just a little silly wordplay.

It's something along the lines of:

  • "My troubleshooting game is strong."
  • "She has good birdwatching force."
  • "He has mad baby-sitting skillz."

I think it takes the form of: "My [skill] <idiom> is good." where [skill] is replaced by whatever the skill or field is, and <idiom> is the word I can't remember.

Please suggest alternate expressions that have originated in about the past few years (post-2010) that one might use to claim proficiency with a skill.

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    -fu (6)?
    – Kevin
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 21:49
  • Yes! That's it. Please make it an answer so I can give you credit.
    – Alan McBee
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 22:03
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    related: What does the suffix “‑fu” mean?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 23:06
  • Avoid posting questions that do not provide transparent, objective criteria for useful answers. We need this when answering and voting. This applies to mind-reading games, such as “what is the word I have forgotten”, which hide usefulness criteria in the mind of the asker. See: “Let’s Play The Guessing Game – Stack Overflow Blog”, and “Real Questions Have Answers – SE Blog”.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 23:54
  • I've added the 'slang' tag, as the answer is flagged as such by Wiktionary. And 'snow-clone' seems more appropriate than 'idiom'. Though idiomaticity and degree of productivity don't seem to agree with those suggested in the question.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Feb 2, 2018 at 0:38

1 Answer 1

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The idiom in question is the ending -fu (wiktionary)

Suffix[edit]

-fu

(slang) Used to form nouns indicating expertise or mastery of specified skill or area of knowledge
My Google-fu is weak!
Aragorn uses Ranger-fu to figure out that Sam and Frodo have taken a boat.

It comes from kung-fu, most commonly seen as google-fu

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    Please attribute references (it's a legal requirement). // This being a UD reference does not guarantee that the practice is generally seen as standard.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 22:40
  • @EdwinAshworth my own experience confirms it as common, at least in several regions of the US, and the OP confirmed it's the specific term he was looking for. If you can find a better citation, feel free to edit it in or tell me and I'll do so.
    – Kevin
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 22:57
  • The paucity of relevant internet examples for eg "driving-fu" argues against it being 'an idiom' at the moment. It's not seen in reputable dictionaries, and OP doesn't add the tag 'slang'. I can't find a single one for "birdwatching-fu" or "baby[-]sitting-fu". / An attribution is more than a citation; you need to spell out where you take your reference from.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 23:49
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    That seems awfully picky, but whatever.
    – Kevin
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 23:57
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    @EdwinAshworth found it on wiktionary
    – Kevin
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 23:57

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