# Monty Python question--"It's a fair..."
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 7, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403 "2006-03-07T18:14:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/1 "2006-03-07T18:14:46Z")
I’ve watched a lot of Python, and there’s one line that comes up frequently that always leaves me a little baffled. It’s the one that goes, “It’s a fair ( ), but I blame society.” It sounds to me like “it’s a fair COP” but I’m not sure that’s the right word. I feel like the accent is getting the better of me.
I get the gist of the line and its humor, but I’ve never been certain what exactly “it’s a fair cop” (if that is the right word) means, or how it is derived. Can any limeys out there give me some insight? This has bugged me for a long time.
Thanks in advance.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/2 "2006-03-07T18:18:55Z")
[Barges into the thread] **What’s all this then!**
It’s a fair cop. Same as “allright you got me”.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/3 "2006-03-07T18:20:23Z")
The word is, indeed, “cop.” In this context, it means “to take, or grab.” In the States, we’d use “pinch” in more or less the same way.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/4 "2006-03-07T18:20:30Z")
Main Entry: 2cop
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): copped; cop·ping
Etymology: perhaps from Dutch kapen to steal, from Frisian kApia to take away; akin to Old High German kouf trade – more at CHEAP
1 slang : to get hold of : CATCH, CAPTURE; also : PURCHASE
2 slang : STEAL, SWIPE
- cop a plea : to plead guilty to a lesser charge in order to avoid standing trial for a more serious one broadly : to admit fault and plead for mercy
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/5 "2006-03-07T18:20:41Z")
I’ve wondered about that, too. From [here](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fai2.htm):
> [@](#):
>
> “It’s a fair cop” was what the essentially good-natured thief with a typically British sense of fair play was supposed to say as his collar was fingered by the fuzz, meaning that the arrest was reasonable and that he really had done what he was accused of doing.
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### Author:  [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/6 "2006-03-07T18:27:29Z")
Yeah, according to the code of those innocent days, the copper was supposed to say “You’re nicked, chummy”, and the villain was to reply “It’s a fair cop, guv”.
Whether this ever really unfolded in real life, I have no idea.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/7 "2006-03-07T18:35:51Z")
In The Quest For The Holy Grail, Connie Booth’s character says, very quietly, “It’s a fair cop” when the duck outweighs her in the big balance. It took me many viewings to be able to understand what she was saying.
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### Author:  [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/8 "2006-03-07T18:38:55Z")
Ah, another mystery solved. Now I’m that much closer to enlightenment. Thanks to everyone for the wisdom (including **tdn’s** lovely etymology).
Now when do I get my “What’s all this then?” t-shirt?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/9 "2006-03-07T18:40:57Z")
> [@Not A Tame Lion](#):
>
> I’ve watched a lot of Python, and there’s one line that comes up frequently that always leaves me a little baffled. It’s the one that goes, “It’s a fair ( ), but I blame society.” It sounds to me like “it’s a fair COP” but I’m not sure that’s the right word. I feel like the accent is getting the better of me.
>
> I get the gist of the line and its humor, but I’ve never been certain what exactly “it’s a fair cop” (if that is the right word) means, or how it is derived. Can any limeys out there give me some insight? This has bugged me for a long time.
>
> Thanks in advance.
you’ve got it right - “cop” is rather oldish slang for arrest. A “fair cop” is one where the arrested person admits that there was a reason for the arrest.
The phrase reflects the common law of arrest. At common law, an arrest wasn’t complete until the peace officer physically took hold of the miscreant. For example, in [R. v. Asante-Mensah](http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/2003/vol2/html/2003scr2_0003.html) the Supreme Court of Canada adopted this definition of when an arrest is valid, based on the common law:
> [@](#):
>
> Arrest consists of the actual seizure or touching of a person’s body with a view to his detention. The mere pronouncing of words of arrest is not an arrest, unless the person sought to be arrested submits to the process and goes with the arresting officer. (underlining mine)
So the peace officer has to physically take the accused into custody for a valid arrest, but if the accused submits to the arrest, the physical touching is not necessary, and the arrest is valid at law. So the accused’s submission, such as a statement that he accepts that he’s under arrest, can be a substitute for the physical contact required by law - it’s a fair arrest.
So why “cop”? It’s because “cop” is slang for grabbing something. [Roget’s](http://www.bartleby.com/62/46/C0334600.html) gives this set of synonyms:
> [@](#):
>
> **1. Slang.** To obtain possession or control of: capture, gain, get, take, win.
A peace officer can be said to have “copped” someone when they arrest them by physical contact, as required by the common law, so by extension, an arrest can be said to be a “cop”. (Note that this is the same slang term in the adolescent phrase, “copped a feel”).
Take the fact that an arrestee can admit that the arrest is valid by submitting to it, add the slang usage for “cop”, and you’ve got the phrase, “it’s a fair cop.”
Whether the phrase was actually used very much, I don’t know. It sounds to me like the sort of thing Rumpole would expect to hear his better class of old-fashinoned career criminals say, not the young smash-and-grab types.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/10 "2006-03-07T18:48:55Z")
I prefer the full Python version: “It’s a fair cop, but society’s to blame.”
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/11 "2006-03-07T18:57:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> I prefer the full Python version: “It’s a fair cop, but society’s to blame.”
“Right then, we’ll be nicking 'im, too.”
Love that comeback.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/12 "2006-03-07T19:14:16Z")
> [@Not A Tame Lion](#):
>
> Now when do I get my “What’s all this then?” t-shirt?
Have you seen _Silverado_?
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### Author:  [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/13 "2006-03-07T20:03:14Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#):
>
> Have you seen _Silverado_?
No, or not in a very long time. I’m not getting your reference.
I must say, I’m impressed with all the esoteric knowledge everyone’s been able to drag up for what seemed like such a miniscule, throwaway line. Gold stars all around.
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### Author:  [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/14 "2006-03-07T20:16:36Z")
And of course, the noun “cop” is short for “copper”, as in “one who cops”.
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/15 "2006-03-07T20:31:25Z")
Wow, and all these years I thought they were saying “It’s a fair _coup_” as in a sudden takeover (of a joke or skit).
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/16 "2006-03-07T21:38:16Z")
> [@Not A Tame Lion](#):
>
> No, or not in a very long time. I’m not getting your reference.
Early in the film, Paden and Emmett are travelling to Silverado and pass through a small town where Emmett is expecting to meet up with his brother. In a saloon, they see a couple guys hassling Mal and a small scuffle breaks out. The local sheriff, who you might recognize, comes in and says…
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### Author:  [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/17 "2006-03-07T21:40:48Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> In The Quest For The Holy Grail, Connie Booth’s character says, very quietly, “It’s a fair cop” when the duck outweighs her in the big balance. It took me many viewings to be able to understand what she was saying.
Me too, in fact for a long time I thought she said, “That’s a fat duck”
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/18 "2006-03-08T01:59:10Z")
> [@sqweels](#):
>
> And of course, the noun “cop” is short for “copper”, as in “one who cops”.
I always thought “cop” came from the copper buttons American police officers wore on their coats back in the Keystone Kops days.
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### Author:  [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/19 "2006-03-08T02:04:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> I always thought “cop” came from the copper buttons American police officers wore on their coats back in the Keystone Kops days.
- sighs \* It had to happen.
No, it doesn’t. Neither does it stand for Constable On Patrol. Neither does shit stand for Ship High In Transit.
[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcop.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcop.html)
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-question-its-a-fair/347403/20 "2006-03-08T02:38:09Z")
“It’s a fair cop” was used fairly regularly on Flying Circus, and in context, too.
It wasn’t until I started watching that that I understood the line from Holy Grail.
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