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“here is a third type of affix, not normally used in English, but found in some other languages. This is called an infix and, as the term suggests, it is an affix that is incorporated inside another word. It is possible to see the general principle at work in certain expressions, occasionally used in fortuitous or aggravating circumstances by emotionally aroused English speakers: Hallebloodylujah! , Absogoddamlutely! and Unfuckinbelievable!. In the film Wish You Were Here, the main character expresses her aggravation (at another character who keeps trying to contact her) by screaming Tell him I've gone to Singabloodypore!. The expletive may even have an infixed element, as in godtripledammit!.

(Excerpt from: George Yule. “The Study Of Language.” iBooks.)

I am wondering what the bold part means. Would you help me understand it?

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    It means the curse word (expletive) may have another word embedded in it for emphasis: the normal expletive is "god damn it!" ➡️ "goddamnit", but for emphasis you can say "god damn it three times" ️️➡️ "god triple-damn it" ➡️ "godtripledamnit".
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 8:27
  • See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expletive_infixation
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 8:36
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    @DanBron, why don't you record your comment as an answer?
    – Omnidisciplinarianist
    Commented Apr 27, 2015 at 21:51

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It means that a curse word, or 'expletive', may have another word embedded in it for emphasis.

In the example, the normal expletive is 'goddammit' ("God, damn it"), but for emphasis they've added the infix 'triple' for 'godtripledammit'("God, triple damn it", i.e. "God, damn it three times").

For more information, see Expletive Infixation.

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