Slang Terms for Law Enforcement (Part II)

Last week we ran an Good/Bad/Ugly rating of slang terms for law enforcement, but as it happens, there are lots of terms for The Law. Since only four were covered in the previous article, it seems a good idea to revisit the topic. Of course, there are still lots of other terms out there which won't get covered this time, either, so there may be a part III some day. We'll have to wait and see.

The Heat: This one, much like the Fuzz, is more of a collective term for law enforcement in general, rather than a single officer. It originates from the idea of putting the heat (i.e. stress or pressure) on someone, which of course the police actually do. So that part is accurate enough, although this is slang based on slang, making it meta slang, and I'm pretty sure that's not even a real concept, and if it were real, it would be a pretty Bad concept.

The Man: If the Fuzz is a collective term for law enforcement, the Man is a collective term for any authority, generally associated with some form of oppression. So it can certainly be applied specifically to police, but it can also be almost any other authority figure, including prison wardens, bankers, and bosses. So as a slang term for law enforcement it's not especially clear. If clarity is at all important to you, this one is a Bad choice.

Bears: While the last two items were more collective terms for police/authority, this one is pretty specific to highway patrol or state troopers. It's shortened from Smokey Bear — that's the "Only you can prevent forest fires" bear, for the three people out who don't know the name — who wears a hat which looks rather like a state trooper hat. I believe this one comes from long haul trucker CB radio lingo, with added terms such as "bear bait" referring to a vehicle grossly exceeding the speed limit, which is more likely to attract police attention, or "bear in the area" which is a patrol helicopter. I don't know how often truckers would need to inform each other about the presence of a helicopter, but that's a Good way to do it.

Pigs: Let me say right away that I strongly dislike this term, and I was seriously ambivalent about including it. I find it offensive, but it is an actual and well known slang term for police, and leaving it out would seem an obvious omission. So I did a little research, and found out that the term actually goes back to the early nineteenth century (the Oxford English Dictionary cites it as early as 1811), and may possibly originate in rhyming slang. So at least it has some history behind it. That doesn't mean it's not Ugly, though.