where did the term cop come from for police

"While commonly believed to be an acronym for Constable On Patrol, the term refers to "one who captures or snatches". Via French, cop ultimately comes the Latin capere, or “to seize, snatch, take, grab.”. Cop has many other senses in English outside the US. Use of the term "cop" to refer to a police officer came about because a "copper" is someone who captures or seizes something in English slang. However, there is another explanation; the term comes from the Latin capere, which means “to seize.” Copper, as slang for policeman, derives from the verb to cop, which dates from 1704 and means to catch. Another common misconception is that the term refers to copper buttons that an officer would wear on his uniform, but this is similarly unsupported by any historical evidence. Will 5G Impact Our Cell Phone Plans (or Our Health?! The many, seemingly unrelated, meanings of cop start to make sense when you know where the word comes from. The five charged with acting as fake cops for years, dressed like real officers, had badges, handcuffs and guns, drove vehicles with emergency lights and would tell people they were the police, investigators previously said. Why did they use to call London policemen "peelers". This verb may have given rise to copper, thieves’ slang for “law enforcement” by the 1840s and shortened to cop by the 1850s. But these "acronym" theories bear all the hallmarks of being spurious after-the-fact explanations invented to explain "cop." Other verbal cops bring us back to legal territory, like copping to crimes and copping pleas. This is not meant to be a formal definition of cop like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is Still other theories explain "cop" as an acronym, standing for "Constable On Patrol," "Chief of Police" or other such phrases. There are a number of apocryphal theories concerning the true origin of the term "cop." I'd forget the acronym - they're usually made up to fit the word. A cop is an informal term for a police officer. As a verb, it shows up in a great number of expressions variously dealing with “grabbing,” from copping feels, attitudes, and drugs. Cop is all about context. start to make sense when you know where the word comes from. The British police were origanlly called Peelers after the guy who founded them. Why are British police called 'Bobbies' (and do you ever call them Cops)? The many, seemingly unrelated, meanings of. jac. The OED2 notes that an 1864 newspaper stated that people would exhibit a copper coin as they passed a policeman, in effect calling them copper. To cut to the chase, the police sense of "copper" and "cop" probably comes originally from the Latin word "capere," meaning "to seize," which also gave us "capture." This word first appeared in the early 18th century, and can be matched with the word "cap", which has the same meaning and whose etymology can be traced to the Latin word 'capere'." When you do… https://t.co/SZdKIsJPBi, — Leonard Johnson (@chang40) November 29, 2018. The most commonly heard theories trace "cop" or "copper" meaning "police" to copper buttons worn on early police uniforms, or to copper police badges supposedly issued in some cities, but there is no convincing evidence for any of this. As a verb, cop is used in a variety of slang expressions meaning "grab" or "obtain," from copping a feel on someone (not recommended) to copping out on going to a party (= not going) to copping to (confessing to) eating the last slice of pizza. Asked by So that's why, it's to do with how they paid police wages. For much of its history, it was often seen as dismissive or, Do you wanna take a walk? Ice-T faced massive backlash in 1992 for his song “Cop Killer.” Ironically, he’s been playing a cop on Law and Order: SVU since 2000. Some sources document the use of the verb "cop" used with the meaning "arrest" in 1844, and suggests this was the source of the specific use of "cop" to refer to a law officer. Among other sticky details is the fact that acronyms were virtually unknown in English before the 20th century, while "cop" itself was well established by the mid-19th century. Cop has taken on verb many other senses in the 20th century. In New York when the Police Officer's first uniforms came out , they had bright copper buttons. Question #2108. One of the most common theories suggests that it is an acronym for "constable on patrol," but there is no historical or etymological evidence to back up this interpretation. Fact Check: What Power Does the President Really Have Over State Governors? Cop is an abbreviated form of Copper, which was the nickname given to early law enforcement officers that wore a copper badge. It is known that, up until the 1970s, "cop" was something of a slang term, and one would refer to law enforcement officials more properly as policemen. Set a goal anddon’t quit until you attain it. "Cop" as a slang term meaning "to catch, snatch or grab" appeared in English in the 18th century, ironically originally used among thieves -- a "copper" was a street thief. Cop became slang for “seizing” in the early 1700s. http://www.word-detective.com/back-d2.html, http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_cops_become_a_name_for_police_officers, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slang_terms_for_police_officers. Other theories root cop as an acronym for constable on patrol (unlikely) or as a reference to copper badges early policemen wore in New York (probably influenced the term). The more British expression fair cop, or “an admission of wrongdoing,” was notably used in the 1975 Monty Python and Holy Grail. They’ve captivated our cultural imagination. The slang term came about as a result of this. rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of cop ), The Secret Science of Solving Crossword Puzzles, Racist Phrases to Remove From Your Mental Lexicon. Use of the term "cop" to refer to a police officer came about because a "copper" is someone who captures or seizes something in English slang. For much of its history, it was often seen as dismissive or derogatory, though most police officers are just fine with it in contemporary use. Most acronym-based words entered the language in the 20th century, and police officers have been called cops or coppers for much longer.

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