Why are policemen, and now policemen, called cops? And in general, is a cop an insult or not? If this word is incorrect, then why do the internal troops themselves call themselves cops? It’s worth sorting out.
Every country has nicknames for police officers. The German police gave the nickname Bulle, that is, the "bull". In America, this is the "cop", the initial letters of Constable on Patrol. In addition, the first cops had copper stars on their chests. British Scotland Yard employees are named "bobby" by police founder Robert Peale. For a high helmet, they are also called "pharaohs." By the way, the Russian city officer was also called the Pharaoh. Yes, and O`Henry uses that word. Apparently, in the USA it was in use.
Also called the French police officer in the Arab quarters of Paris. The more common name, the truth is “flick”. Translated as "fly." But it is also deciphered as Federation Legale des Idiots Casques. This is what the police have been called since the nineteenth century. Translated, this is the "Legal Federation of idiots in helmets." The slang word "ajan" - an agent is also widespread.
What do dictionaries say?
The definition of the word "ment" in dictionaries and reference books leaves no doubt in the dismissive tone that it wears. So they call in Russia a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: an investigator, a district police officer or employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service. Synonyms are indicated by such words as “milton”, “garbage”, “cop”.
The etymology of the word goes back to the Hungarian mente, meaning "cloak". The uniform coat of the Hungarian policeman distinguished him among the crowd, and it was immediately evident that the cop was coming. The word came to Russia through Poland, or rather, through the Polish criminal argo.
As noted by V. Dahl, the word “mentic” was more popular, but not “cop”. This is the famous top hussar jacket. The officer (police officer) wore a similar mentic, and it was also easy to distinguish him in the crowd.
In the slang dictionaries of the late twenties of the last century, there are distorted forms of the word “mentic” - these are “mentuch” and “metic” (prison guard).
Cop or trash?
As it was found out, the cop is a uniform. But why did the word take on a dismissive tone? After all, paratroopers are called blue berets, and they are even proud of it. Yes, and another name for a policeman in the past - "Little Red Riding Hood" - came from a red band on his cap. But the word "garbage" also sounds derogatory, and the meaning in itself is fraught with bad.
After the Polish-Jewish words used in Rostov and Odessa entered the environment of criminals, this word entered the vocabulary of prison argo. The Hebrew "Moser" (muser) literally translates as "bogus". So called those who inform their neighbors to the authorities.
Both in pre-revolutionary Russia and in the USSR there was an institution of scammers. They were called "informants" by the police, and "agents" by the police. But the essence of this did not change. People called them (and they call them) informers. And the employees of the bodies that use their information began to be called "garbage."
Romanticization of the image of the employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
In tsarist Russia, although they gave nicknames to the gendarmes and the city police, they had a kind of respect for them. After Kerensky released convicted criminals and the gendarmerie institute was disbanded, the prestige of the representative of law enforcement agencies quickly fell. It was necessary to restore it, to affirm in the minds of people that the cop is a worthy person, an honest officer, devoted to duty.
For this, Komsomol kits for militia units were used, writers and filmmakers covered the activities of bodies in a positive manner. Actors beloved by the people acted as militiamen, such as M. Zharov, who brilliantly played the role of the rural district police officer Aniskin. After his work, the surname of the movie hero became a household name. And also E. Zharikov, who created the image of policeman Nikolai Kondratyev, who devoted his life to his duty.
And Gleb Zheglov, played by V. Vysotsky, became an example for many employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Although there are those who share the position of Sharapova, played by V. Konkin. He did not stoop to breaking the law in his work.
Cop series were shot, romanticizing the work of operational officers: "Streets of Broken Lights", "Kamenskaya", "Secrets of the Investigation" and others. In them, the word "cop" call themselves and the investigators themselves.
An example of a humorous friendly cartoon was a video filmed by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In it, the word "cop" is not offensive.
Suing the word
In 2003, in Orel, in a court hearing, it was found out that the “cop” is an insult or not. Police officers sued journalists, claiming that this word offends honor and dignity.
In the course of the proceedings, several philologists were involved as experts. They gave a detailed description of the word, found out its etymology and the subtext with which it can be used.
In particular, it was found out that this word has firmly entered the modern Russian language, and now it is an integral part of it. Therefore, it is not disrespectful. This precedent marked the beginning of the official use by journalists of the word "cop" as the second name of a policeman, like "cop" in America.
Now Wikipedia interprets it as the vernacular name of a policeman. The same root words "mentovka" (department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the building where the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is located), "mentovoz" (car) and "mentavr" (mounted militia officer) have also long been included in the vernacular dictionaries.
MENT - abbreviation
The movement and development of the Russian language can not be canceled by orders. And in 2010, Colonel General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia M. Sukhodolsky said that the word can be considered as an abbreviation. It entered the Russian language as offensive, but gradually became neutral. In Vladivostok, police are even proud that they are cops. Philologists note that there was a simplification of the word "policeman", which is difficult to pronounce, it is much easier to replace it with the word "cop".
Visiting the riot police in one of the schools in Yekaterinburg, M. Sukhodolsky, who then served as deputy minister of internal affairs, offered an interesting explanation of what MENT means: my only reliable friend. This version was supported by Amur employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who already considered it positive. “Among the cops there are real heroes, ” they say.
The police are no more
With the adoption of the law on renaming the police to the police, the name "milton" was gone. Although it was so rarely used, being supplanted by the word "cop." Now only the song of the Public Girl reminds of him: "… Milton swears, the lamp is swinging …". Yes, and no one calls the representatives of the rule of law pharaohs. But the cops - please.
Decoding in police MENT as abbreviations - a worthy conclusion to the history of the word. It went a hard way: restoring an honest name over a century, won a philological court and is now used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs themselves.
