JFK

Translingual

Symbol

JFK

1. (international standards, aviation) IATA airport code for John F. Kennedy International Airport, which serves New York City, United States.

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Proper noun

JFK

1. (US politics) Initialism of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th US president.
2. Buildings, facilities, ships, bridges, highways, and other public works informally known as the JFK or JFK, especially
   1. John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.

      I flew into JFK, then took a cab to my hotel in Manhattan

      • 1994, Tom Clancy, Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 281:

        Fortunately, most of these were former French colonies, and through a combination of quiet diplomacy and well-placed French nationals in the various air-traffic-control centers, the 300-mile-long stream of American aircraft flew the width of Africa as uneventfully as a red-eye flight from LAX to JFK.

   2. John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Boston, MA.
   3. John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, Louisville, KY.

      Traffic on the JFK was delayed by construction of the new bridge.

   4. Either of two US navy aircraft carriers:
      1. USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
      2. USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)
   5. Any of numerous schools in the US.

      Steubenville beat JFK, scoring in the final minute of play.

Usage notes

• Often used attributively in the informal names of public buildings and other types of facilities and public works named after the president.

Noun

JFK (plural JFKs)

1. A half-dollar coin in honor of president John F. Kennedy.

   Synonym: Kennedy

Verb

JFK (third-person singular simple present JFKs, present participle JFKing, simple past and past participle JFKed)

1. (transitive, slang) To put to death; to assassinate, especially for political reasons.
   • 2004 April 5, JonZ, “Poll Picks McCain as Kerry's Vice President”, in alt.politics.bush (Usenet):

     I am not saying choosing McCain would necesarrily^[sic] lead to Kerry getting JFKed but Democratic presidential runners need to be aware of the problem.

   • 2009 November 14, Eddie Haskell, “Obama resists Pentagon pressure on Afghanistan quagmire - will he be JFKed?”, in alt.fan.rush-limbaugh (Usenet):

     The way he is decimating the CIA will more likely get him JFKed.

   • 2010 June 20, Johnny Asia, “If Obama tried to do the right thing he'd be JFKed”, in alt.politics (Usenet):

     If Obama tried to do the right thing he'd be JFKed. If Obama tried to live up to his promises, if he opposed the neocons and military-industrial complex ...

2. (slang) To conduct research about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
   • 1991 April 19, Steve Feinstein, “JFK Survey”, in sci.skeptic (Usenet):

     This may seem a little presumptious, but I feel that this group is pretty much JFKed out.

   • 2009 November 14, cdddraftsman, “More indications of the investigative”, in alt.assassination.jfk (Usenet):

     I'm going to give 'nobody' the benifit^[sic] of the doubt , seeing by his own admission that he's been JFKing it for just a couple of months now .

   • 2016 August 14, Ralph Cinque, “There are two kinds of people: JFKers and non-JFKers”, in alt.assassination.jfk (Usenet):

     The point is that the JFK world is a very polarized world, and it does not reflect the general population. In a word, JFKing can screw-up a person's head. Look at the ridiculous assertion of Robert Harris from the other day where he said that he took Ruby's shooting of Oswald as a clear sign that Oswald was guilty.

3. (slang, derogatory) To hold similar political beliefs or behave in a similar manner to John F. Kennedy.
   • 2003 November 10, zepp, “The Wingnut Dictionary”, in talk.politics.misc (Usenet):

     (from the standard code-word remark "I'm a JFK liberal") Examples: "He's useless...he JFKed a long time ago",

   • 2004 October 6, Alex, “OT / Right Wingnut Debate Dictionary”, in alt.true-crime (Usenet):

     JFKing is symbiotically related to the "Even Some Liberals Agree" gambit, since JFKers quickly establish their roles as the reliable house liberals who provide neocons with all their even-some-liberals-agree examples.

   • 2010 May 20, Bill Bonde, “evangelical Repulican quits over sex scandal”, in alt.activism.death-penalty (Usenet):

     He could've JFKed all the overweight babes he wanted to and that's that.