# Did "Cop" come from "copper" or Constable On Patrol **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055 "2003-02-14T14:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/1 "2003-02-14T14:30:52Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=162325), the discussion takes a sideline veer into the origin of the word ‘cop’. Since it’s completely irrelevant to the subject of the thread, I thought I’d open a new one. What is the etymology of calling a police officer a cop? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/2 "2003-02-14T14:34:41Z")
I don’t think anyone knows for sure, but it’s probably from “cop” meaning to grab. [http://www.urbanlegends.com/language/etymology/cop\_etymology\_of.html](http://www.urbanlegends.com/language/etymology/cop_etymology_of.html) ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/3 "2003-02-14T14:34:45Z")
[http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorc.htm](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorc.htm) > [@](#): > > Several popular etymologies, all certainly false, exist for this word meaning policeman. One says that it is an acronym standing for Constable On Patrol. Another says that the first policemen in London (or another city–it varies in the telling) had copper buttons on their uniforms. Yet another says that it was not buttons, but a copper badge that gave them the name. > While the ultimate origin is disputed, most authorities agree that it is a shortening of copper. Cop was first used in 1859 and copper predates it from 1846. Copper, as slang for policeman, derives from the verb to cop, which dates from 1704 and means to catch. 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. This may have been the beginning of the confusion with the metal copper. > > The ultimate origin of the verb copper is disputed. It either derives from the Dutch kapen, meaning to take. This in turn comes from the Old Frisian capia, meaning to buy. The other choice is that it derives from the French caper, to take, and ultimately from the Latin capere. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/4 "2003-02-14T15:05:50Z")
Once again, you can forget about any etymology that claims that a word known from before the 20th century came from an acronym. They just didn’t do them back then. “Cop” didn’t come from “Constable on Patrol.” “Posh” didn’t come from “Port Out, Starboard Home.” “Tip” didn’t come from “To Insure Promptness.” “Wog” didn’t come from “Wise Oriental Gentleman.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/5 "2003-02-14T15:29:35Z")
Wendell: While I’ve heard what you claim above many times before, and believe it to be true, it occurs to me now I don’t have a particular citation for it – nor, sadly, does your post. So what’s the authority for the proposition that acronyms from before 1900 were just not done? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![VanLandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/eb9ed0/32.png) [@VanLandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanLandry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/6 "2003-02-14T15:47:27Z")
I always thought it came from “Citizens On Patrol”. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/7 "2003-02-14T17:37:01Z")
**Bricker** \*So what’s the authority…? \* Sources whose etymological claims are based on reliable mainstream sources such as the OED. For instance, [Errors in Popular Etymology](http://www.wordorigins.org/errors.htm), again at [wordorigins.org](http://www.wordorigins.org) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/8 "2003-02-14T17:52:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\*Wendell: > > While I’ve heard what you claim above many times before, and believe it to be true, it occurs to me now I don’t have a particular citation for it – nor, sadly, does your post. > > So what’s the authority for the proposition that acronyms from before 1900 were just not done? > > - Rick \*\* Also see this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157976) and check out the links that are given there. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-cop-come-from-copper-or-constable-on-patrol/155055/9 "2003-02-14T20:11:00Z")
Note that there’s a singular, and significant, exception to the “claims of derivation based on acronyms and abbreviations before 1900 are false” rule. To wit, [O.K.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_250.html) Everything else, pretty much, is bunkum.