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G-Man(short for Government Man) is slang for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. The word "Government" stands for the United States Federal Government, as opposed to state or local government police agencies.

In FBI mythology, the nickname is held to have originated during the arrest of gangster George "Machine Gun" Kelly by agents of the Division of Investigation (DOI), a forerunner of the FBI, in September 1933. Finding himself unarmed, Kelly supposedly shouted "Don't shoot, G-Men! Don't shoot, G-Men!"^[1] This event is dramatized in the 1959 film, The FBI Story, where its somewhat implausible quality is in no way diminished.

The term "G-Man" was also used at least as far back as 1916 in Ireland as a reference to the detectives of the Dublin Metropolitan Police force's "G" Division, whose job it was to collect information on the various revolutionaries within the city.^[2]

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• In 1935, the nickname became fashionable and gained more widespread use with the release of the film G Men starring James Cagney.
• The J.P. Richardson song "White Lightning" (famously covered by George Jones), contains a reference to the G-Men who were looking for a moonshine still.
• In an episode of the television show M*A*S*H, Frank Burns (Larry Linville) is offered a job as a doctor who would specifically treat "G-men." The following line is met with Frank's awe: "I could put J. Edgar Hoover's gallstones right in your pocket!"
• In 1934 and 1935, the Detroit Tigers baseball team was known as the "G-Men," as the team went to the World Series both years under the leadership of future Hall of Famers, Goose Goslin, Charlie Gehringer, and Hank Greenberg.
• The 1941 Looney Tunes short Hollywood Steps Out depicts former FBI chairman J. Edgar Hoover wearing a badge that says "Chief G-Man", and repeating the letter "G" several times.
• The literal Spanish translation of G-Man served as an inspiration for the name of Spanish Pop/rock band Hombres G.
• In the Half-Life series of games there are frequent encounters with a mysterious older man in a blue suit. He is never named but fans tend to refer to him by his multiplayer model name of "G-Man".

• FBI portrayal in the media
• Gang Busters radio program originally called "G-Men" and developed in part by J. Edgar Hoover.
• Half-Life

1. ^ Timeline of FBI History. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
2. ^ Dobbie, Elliot V. K. (December 1957). "Miscellany: Did 'G-Man' Come from Ireland?". American Speech 32 (4): 306-307. Retrieved on 2006-11-22. 

• Timeline of FBI History

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