Why cops are called fuzz

Logging in Remember me. Log in. Forgot password or user name? Posts Latest Activity Photos. Page of 1. Filtered by:. Previous template Next. COP: Cop the noun is almost certainly a shortening of copper, which in turn derives from cop the verb. Copper as slang for policeman is first found in print in , according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The most likely explanation is that it comes from the verb "to cop" meaning to seize, capture, or snatch, dating from just over a century earlier As with many words, there are several stories floating around positing various origins, almost certainly false.

The notion that cop is an acronym for "Constable On Patrol" is nonsense. Similarly, the word did not arise because police uniforms in New York or London or wherever had copper buttons, copper badges, or anything of the sort. FUZZ: The origin of "fuzz" is uncertain. The expression arose in America in the late s and early s, probably in the criminal underworld. It never quite replaced cop. There are several theories about the origin of "fuzz": -- American Tramp and Underworld Slang, published in , suggests that "fuzz" was derived from "fuss," meaning that the cops were "fussy" over trifles.

This seems unlikely. This also seems improbable. To be 'fuzzy' was to be unmanly, incompetent and soft. How better to insult the police, after all, than to mock them as ineffectual?

It surfaced in Britain in the s. PIG: If you thought the term pig arose in the s, you're in for a surprise. The Oxford English Dictionary cites an reference to a "pig" as a Bow Street Runner--the early police force, named after the location of their headquarters, before Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Force. This explanation is plausible since the use of fuzz originated during Prohibition in the United States, , when federal agents worked with local police to catch moonshiners and speakeasy operators.

Evan Morris, known as the Word Detective, points to references in glossaries of criminal slang compiled at the time as proof that the term really was in use in the criminal underworld. The book "American Tramp and Underworld Slang," published in , is one of the best examples. According to Morris, the most likely explanation is that criminals used fuzz as a specific kind of insult.

The term cop has had derogatory implications. The expression arose in America in the late s and early s, probably in the criminal underworld. It never quite replaced cop. It would have been a faux pas right up there with ironing your blue jeans.

The term is not related to Fuzzy Wuzzy who wuz a bear. How better to insult the police, after all, than to mock them as ineffectual? The usage was probably confined to the criminal classes until the s, when it was taken up by protestors. Send questions to Cecil via cecil straightdope.

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