At the end of the “trial”, the accused says “It’s a fair cop.” I’d guesstimate that at least 98% of Americans are unfamiliar with the phrase. But when I googled it, I got the impression that it’s basically an admission of guilt. Is that correct?
So she was actually a witch or at least thought that she was?
I think I need to lie down.
Um, I think it was a comment on the sheep like sensibility of the proletariat. Someone in authority told her she was a witch, so she accepted it.
No, I think she really was a witch.
There you go, bringing class into it again.
She weighs as much as a duck, so obviously she is a witch.
“A fair cop” is a common UK phrase used by someone caught red handed (at least, in popular culture). It was also used in the Monty Python TV Show:
“It’s a fair cop, but society is to blame.”
“We’ll be arresting them in the morning.”
Well, that was kind of the whole point of the thing.
First of all, yes she really is a witch. The joke is that you think Bedevere doesn’t believe in witches, and the trial by weighing against a duck is a trick. But then it turns out that it was a proper test, and proves her guilt.
As for “It’s a fair cop” that is the stereotypical fake confession made up by police to fit up a suspect. Often followed by “You’ve got me bang to rights.” Usually used humourously.
Actually, we have a phrase in the US “Cop to it,” which means, pretty much, “Admit to it.” I could figure out the UK phrase from that. It did get me wondering about the origin of “Cop to it.”
I used to think of it in my head as “Kop to it,” which is how the Yiddish word for head, “kop,” is usually transliterated. Even though “Head to it” isn’t a Yiddish expression, I realized that somehow, I was hearing that, as somehow meaning “acknowledge it.”
But apparently, “Cop” is a variant pronunciation of “caught.” So “Cop to it,” essentially means, “everyone knows the truth, so just admit it,” which is pretty much what is means.
“Cop out” has a similar derivation. If you let yourself be convicted of a lesser plea, instead of standing up to the charges, you are “caught.” Or “copt.” That’s how “copped” would have been spelled by people who used the pronunciation, and also spelled burned “burnt.”
Burn her anyway!!
Nobody noticed that the “fair test” involved a lot of villagers leaning on the duck side of the scale?
Of course she’s a witch- what’s funnier, the “logic” of the wise and learned knight being wrong, or being right? Humor is all about subverting expectations.
I just checked. There are no people leaning on any part of the scale. It’s just the woman on one side and the duck on the other.
It is a fair cop.
Thought you might be serious and had to check, but there’s no obvious tampering and no one standing close to the scales other than the guys who just knocked the blocks out from under the two sides.
I always thought her tone of voice indicated that she was being sarcastic and full well knew that weighing her against a duck is a ludicrous test of her witchitude.
She tu’n’d me innu a newt!
I got better
Stranger
Well, that’s what it’s all about, innit? :dubious:
I thought “copper” was a reference to handcuffs being made of metal, as in “Go ahead, put the coppers on me!” 
Also, Bedevere doesn’t even rank as a pseudo-scientist. It’s clear he really believes weighing her against the duck is a legitimate means of proving her guilt.
It’s always sounded more like resigned disappointment to me. 
And it worked, didn’t it? Good thing he was so wise in the Ways of Science.
It balances when she and the duck are both on it, but when they get off, and the sides just hang, they don’t balance-- it’s an unfair scale. It’s a detail that’s on only for a moment, though, and if memory serves, there’s a reel change about this time, so it’s possible that the shot of the unfair scale was cut out of some viewings.
I ran a projector in college for an art house. We showed this once. That’s why I remember where the reel change was. I watched the end of this scene every time because I was getting ready for the reel change.
Course, the 35mm films may have had the reel change in different places-- we showed 16mm.
She was a witch. The fact that witches float, ducks float and therefore witches weigh the same as ducks is perfectly good science.
The witch understood she had been caught fairly.