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Often you must have heard in films – “Call the Cops”, “The Cops have arrived”, or “Good Cop, Bad Cop”. Today this word has become common. But do you know why a police officer is called a cop? Let us tell you.
You must have often heard a police officer being called cop in Indian films or foreign films. Now this word itself has come to mean policeman. But have you ever wondered why they are called cops, whereas this word does not appear anywhere in the word police officer. Today we are going to tell you what is the meaning of the word cop and why policemen are called cops. We claim that 90 percent people will not be aware of this…if you too are not aware then definitely read this news.
Often you must have heard in films – “Call the Cops”, “The Cops have arrived”, or “Good Cop, Bad Cop”. Today this word has become so common that its original meaning and history has been lost in our everyday language, but have you ever wondered how the word “cop” actually came to be? After all, why is a police officer called a cop?
The word cop is derived from a French word. (Photo: Canva)
There are many misconceptions associated with the word cop
Talking to Reader’s Digest, Dr. Michael Adams, PhD, English and Linguistics Professor of Indiana University, gave specific information about this. Many people believe that “cop” is an acronym for “Constable on Patrol,” but Professor Adams says, “This is absolutely false. At that time the word ‘constable’ was not used for a police officer.” Another common belief is that policemen used to wear copper badges and hence they came to be called ‘copper’ or ‘cop’ but experts say – “It has nothing to do with the metal.”
