Talk:List of police-related slang terms/Archive 1

Offensive/Slang
I think that we need to come to a consensus as to which are slang and which are offensive. If not then the reader is left to wonder which term they may safely use. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 05:40, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

PIG
Does anyone else remember that at one time in the late 60's or early 70's the police in Britain (and maybe elsewhere) attempted to use the word PIG as an acronym to mean Pride, Integrity, Guts? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 05:40, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Failed AFD
This article had a failed AFD debate. Johnleemk | Talk 10:42, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Move
If no one objects, I'm going to move this to List of slang terms for police officers sometime tommorrow. "Offensive" is POV and largely irrelevant, and it is a list, so it seems like a better title. Any thoughts?--Sean|Bla ck 03:48, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Okay, moved.--Sean|Bla ck 00:51, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * "Offensive" is not POV, because all police officers agree that some of those terms are offensive. 64.192.107.242 02:55, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Need some information on these:
Buttons, Elbow, elephant ears, johns, the Law. I found them here. I know "the law" and I can see that "buttons" and "elbow" could be references. However, I am not sure about the other two. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 09:28, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Attention: Slang Glossary policy discussion underway
Slang glossaries violate the following policy:

Wikipedia is not a dictionary

Wikipedia is not a dictionary or a usage or jargon guide. Wikipedia articles are not:


 * 1) Dictionary definitions. Because Wikipedia is not a dictionary, please do not create an entry merely to define a term. An article should usually begin with a  good definition; if you come across an article that is nothing more than a definition, see if there is information you can add that would be appropriate for an encyclopedia. An exception to this rule is for articles about the cultural meanings of individual  numbers.
 * 2) Lists of such definitions. There are, however,  disambiguation pages consisting of pointers to other pages; these are used to clarify differing meanings of a word. Wikipedia also includes  glossary pages for various specialized fields.
 * 3) A usage guide or slang and idiom guide. Wikipedia is not in the business of saying how words, idioms, etc. should be used. We aren't teaching people how to talk like a Cockney chimney-sweep. However, it may be important in the context of an encyclopedia article to describe just how a word is used to distinguish among similar, easily confused ideas, as in nation or freedom. In some special cases an article about an essential piece of slang may be appropriate.

Due to the many AfDs which are initiated to enforce this policy and due to the resistance to such deletion by defenders of the glossaries, I have started a discussion at Wikipedia talk:What Wikipedia is not to rewrite the policy in order to solve this problem and to readdress this question: should slang glossaries by allowed on Wikipedia? --List Expert 23:37, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

The Gaver
Someone just added this as Cockney slang but without the full phrase it would not appear to make any sense. Does anyone know what it's supposed to be? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 15:06, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Internal Term of Disparagement?
In the Thames Valley Police force, Woodentops was a somewhat derogatory term for the uniformed branch, used primarily by the plainclothes division (CID). I'll see if I can find a suitable reference (other than my late father, who served in both branches :)). It implied that they had no intelligence (wooden heads). I've never heard it used by members of the general public, though - it seemed to be an exclusively internal term. AncientBrit (talk) 23:41, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
 * For interest's sake, (very) long-running TV show 'The Bill' was originally going to be called 'Woodentops'. In fact, I seem to recall that the pilot, all those millennia ago, was actually broadcast with that name.  But it wasn't anything to do with intelligence (despite the inexplicable rivalry between CID and uniform).  It was simply that the helmets that beat officers wore were made largely of wood.  And, no, unfortunately I can't cite any of this...  - Aethelmost (talk) 00:33, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Bluebottle
I've never before heard the notion that 'bluebottle' was anything to do with rhyming slang as suggested in this article. 'Bottle' - 'bottle and glass' - 'arse'? 'Blue' is traditionally associated with the police for obvious reasons: their uniforms and what we might call their 'corporate colours'. I'm prepared to accept that the rhyming slang explanation might well be true, but I think it could do with a cite before we prefer it over the far simpler 'boys in blue' derivation. - Aethelmost (talk) 00:38, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Use of word "but"
From the article: These are often used by the public rather than the police themselves, but not all are considered offensive.

It is awkwardly implied that the public would, by nature, have many derogatory words for police, an assumption that all readers may not share (though I do myself).

I like noting that not all are offensive, and I like noting that some of these are used by people rather than the police. I just think this sentence is awkward, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. And I'm curious to see if anyone else will take the initiative of fixing it. Go.--68.56.17.70 (talk) 23:06, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Only English?
Hi! Should this include only English terms?--MathFacts (talk) 05:48, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Accent?
Why is "Po-lice" listed as slang? It is simply a mispronunciation due to accents in certain parts of the US. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.16.30.231 (talk) 01:10, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Proposed move
Over the last few months, I have repeatedly reverted edits to this article on the basis that they were additions of slang terms for things related to police (such as slang terms for police stations), but not police officers themselves (as the title suggests). However, the list already contains many such terms, and they are generally informative. For that reason, I'm going to move the list to "List of police-related slang terms", to allow further addition of such terms. If anyone objects, feel free to move back and start a discussion here. Basa lisk inspect damage⁄berate 00:39, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

SS RUC
Entry is clearly biased against Northern Irish Catholics, by saying they all support/ed terrorism! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dhyandeva (talk • contribs) 15:15, 8 March 2012 (UTC) Removed the sentence. 94.168.161.5 (talk) 00:29, 26 June 2012 (UTC)E

RC
I think that I have heard this used to describe the Royal Constabulary of Newfoundland not the RCMP. --198.161.2.206 (talk) 22:13, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

Po-Po
My mother, grandmother, and many old family members sometimes refer to the police as the Po-Po, so I doubt it originated from "gangsta rap"... —Preceding unsigned comment added by BuddyOfHolly (talk • contribs) 00:45, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Or maybe your mother and grandmother are into gangsta rap? =) J I P  &#124; Talk 18:19, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

I heard the term long before the wire. Perhaps they popularized it, but they definitely did not coin it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.92.60.244 (talk) 16:20, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Still unreferenced
This list has remained almost completely unreferenced despite being tagged in January 2011. I propose to start removing the unreferenced entries in a few days, so this is the last chance for the page-watchers to bring it up to our standard for referencing. It's quite obvious that every entry in the list must be supported by a reliable source, else there's nothing to stop anyone adding anything they heard down the pub or made up. See WP:LSC. —S MALL JIM   11:31, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

that's the idea and as long as they dont trash it is good. --217.44.244.165 (talk) 03:32, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

5 oh?
I am looking high and low for an explanation on this. Want to add it to the list but not until I know of its etymology. I know Hawaii 5-oh is often cited for it and the 5-oh because Hawaii was the 50th state. I've also heard it referenced to the Crown Victoria 5.0L Interceptor package. Anyone? 71.227.5.43 (talk) 22:52, 25 April 2015 (UTC)Jjneko

added --217.44.244.165 (talk) 03:33, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Possibly the most derogatory/offensive term isn't listed here
So, should we add "cuntstable"? It's quite a popular one here in the UK (where just for clarification, the term "cunt" is a gender neutral insult), especially as many beat police possess the rank of "constable", you can be arrested for swearing at police here (especially if they feel general members of the public may have overheard you), but as much as emphasis on the first syllable may make it fairly obvious what you're saying, they really can't prove it's what you were trying to say and therefore get you prosecuted you under the Public Order Act. I for one feel it's a term that's important/notable enough to add but given how (obviously) extremely offensive it is and my currently being too sleep deprived to go hunt down some references I felt it better to bring the matter up here than just go ahead and add it. 81.110.112.179 (talk) 16:06, 8 June 2016 (UTC)

Yes. --Owen1983 (talk) 02:02, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

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Its been taken care of thanks mate. --Owen1983 (talk) 21:38, 10 January 2018 (UTC)