Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Copper

 A couple of authorly friends and I were musing about the origin of the slang term copper, i.e. police.

One theorized it was because of the "copper" (i.e., brass, shiny) buttons on the uniform. The other suggested that maybe it was because, historically, the Irish often joined the police force. (This was certainly true in 19th century San Francisco, for instance.) And all that red hair led to calling an officer a copper.

So, I looked it up. And guess what?

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The answer is... neither!

According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, copper, meaning police officer, probably evolved from the verb cop, meaning "to seize, to catch, capture or arrest as a prisoner." This definition of copper first appeared in 1846 or thereabouts. 

As for the verb cop, the dictionary notes it arose in 1704, is northern British dialect and of uncertain origin. Beyond that, the origin of cop might be middle French, or Latin, or Dutch or... Well, you can read it all here.

I was kind of pulling for the buttons explanation, but oh well!

Image by Steffen Salow from Pixabay