Slang dictionary
gogle
or Gogle [goh-guh l] or [goo-guh l]
What does gogle mean?
Gogle is a common misspelling of the internet search engine Google, occasionally used as a slang term for looking at pornography accessed from a Google search.
Where does gogle come from?
Since its founding in 1998, the search engine Google has become a leading place we search for information online—and our go-to verb for any act of doing that (e.g., just google it).
Before it was Google, though, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin called it BackRub, soon intending to change it to Googol, a mathematical term for 10 to the power of 100. Yet when a peer went to check if the domain was available, he misspelled it Google. The name stuck.
Misspellings have only continued for the company, as many people accidentally type Gogle when they trying to use its various services (e.g., Gogle Maps or Gogle Images). Google is aware of the common typo, as www.gogle.com redirects the searcher to the Google homepage.
Outside of the use of the company name as verb for “to search online,” Google has inspired other wordplay. This includes gogle, a blend of Google and ogle (“stare at amorously”), a slang formation meaning “to google pictures of attractive people to ogle them,” usually for masturbation. The term earned entry on Urban Dictionary in 2009, with other internet users subsequently claiming they coined the term in 2010.
Gogle has since caught on among porn websites and accounts, who sometimes use the hashtag “#gogle” in promoting content. Memes have also taken to the slang. One features a spectacled bear and is captioned: “Whenever I see a new actress I think is pretty, I gogle her for nude pics.”
Examples of gogle
Who uses gogle?
Gogle, the typo, is widespread online, and simply intends the word Google.
In sexual contexts, gogle is also often simply a typo for Google, given that many people access porn via Google searches.
Occasionally, gogle sees humorous use online among younger, usually male users as slang for looking up pornographic content through Google. Less frequent is gogling someone to admire or examine them in a non-sexual manner (e.g., gogling a celebrity’s eyebrows).
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of gogle like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of gogle that will help our users expand their word mastery.