# Put the roscoe on someone **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877 "2015-08-25T20:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/1 "2015-08-25T20:02:35Z")
What does it mean to ‘put the roscoe’ on someone? I know that ‘roscoe’ is slang for a gun, but I’m pretty sure from watching old movies that ‘to put the roscoe on’ means to kidnap someone. My Google-Fu is not mighty today. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/2 "2015-08-25T20:13:39Z")
I assume it just means to aim a gun at someone (which you would generally do in kidnapping). In fact, in [this passage](https://books.google.com.pa/books?id=l7o6c9-JmKAC&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=%22put+the+roscoe+on%22&source=bl&ots=6gEPaSPp3V&sig=ISBD1lZ17ce9CF5VVXx2utD4dDc&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22put%20the%20roscoe%20on%22&f=false) it just means threatening to shoot someone. Do you have some specific cases where it means to kidnap where a gun wasn’t involved? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/3 "2015-08-25T20:14:20Z")
I had never heard of the term so I went googling, but my google-fu wasn’t much better than yours. From what I saw though it seems like the term is just used to mean pointing a gun at someone. If you are kidnapping someone, one of the best ways to do it I suppose would be to put the roscoe on them (point a gun at them) and make them get in the car or whatever. Seems to be a 30’s and 40’s slang term. Were you watching old gangster movies? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/4 "2015-08-25T20:22:09Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I had never heard of the term so I went googling, but my google-fu wasn’t much better than yours. From what I saw though it seems like the term is just used to mean pointing a gun at someone. > > If you are kidnapping someone, one of the best ways to do it I suppose would be to put the roscoe on them (point a gun at them) and make them get in the car or whatever. > > Seems to be a 30’s and 40’s slang term. Were you watching old gangster movies? This was my understanding, mainly from watching old gangster movies. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/5 "2015-08-25T20:22:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Do you have some specific cases where it means to kidnap where a gun wasn’t involved? > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Seems to be a 30’s and 40’s slang term. Were you watching old gangster movies? Yes, I think of it as a '30s slang phrase. No specific case I can think of, and I haven’t heard it in I-don’t-know-how-long. I do like old gangster movies, but haven’t seen any recently. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/6 "2015-08-26T13:18:03Z")
Absent context, I would have assumed it meant, “call the cops”. Isn’t Rozzer a slang term for cops? I’m not sure why. But that’s what “put the roscoe” sounds like, to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/7 "2015-08-26T14:09:32Z")
[**The Urban Dictionary**](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=roscoe): > [@](#): > > roscoe > > old (30s-40s) term for a handgun: same vintage as gat, heater, cannon, etc. > He pulled a roscoe and ventilated the gorilla. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/8 "2015-08-26T14:29:03Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Absent context, I would have assumed it meant, “call the cops”. Isn’t Rozzer a slang term for cops? I’m not sure why. But that’s what “put the roscoe” sounds like, to my ears. Rozzer is British slang. Roscoe is American slang. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/9 "2015-08-29T01:50:04Z")
“They’ve been putting the roscoe on me now for a good many years and I’m still healthy and happy.” -Al Capone, quoted in _Capone, The Man and the Era_ by Laurence Bergreen ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-the-roscoe-on-someone/728877/10 "2015-08-29T02:16:50Z")
I’ve always thought it to mean to point a “roscoe” (gun) at someone.