Suicide by Cop

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Sun, Feb 05, 2006 at 09:38:48PM -0500, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> On 2/5/06, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> >
> >         News reports of the death of Jacob Robida, the teenager who died
> > today in Arkansas after attacking men in a New Bedford, Massachusetts
> > gay bar Wednesday night, quote a New Bedford police captain discussing
> > "suicide by cop."
>
> Barry Popik brought up this phrase back in 1999:
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9908C&L=ADS-L&P=R838
>
> Wordspy's also got it:
> http://www.wordspy.com/words/suicidebycop.asp

Indeed, so well established is the expression that it has even made
it into the Oxford English Dictionary, which entered it in September
2004.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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