Popo (police)

Wells Darla L dlw3208 at LOUISIANA.EDU
Sun Oct 15 01:59:22 UTC 2006


In 1977, I heard this expression used in Nolanville, Texas, right outside Fort
Hood. It was in an explanation as to why one of the local police had just
gotten in trouble. Apparently when a lady asked him why he was stopping her
and writing her up, he told her that she was being charged with popo--pissing
off a police officer. Small town--she called the chief, he bitched out the
officer, and the term somehow got out into the community.
Darla Wells

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 19:05:20 EDT, Bapopik wrote
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Popo (police)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I don't know what HDAS or OED has for "popo." A cite below says this
> comes  from Texas slang, but I think California is more likely. ... ...
> ...
>
> _http://www.rapdict.org/Po-po_ (http://www.rapdict.org/Po-po)
>
> noun
> po-po
> The police. "Anybody seen the po-po's, let 'em know" -- "Anybody
> Seen The  Popo's," Ice Cube  ... ...
>
> _http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=popo_
> (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=popo)
>
>     POPO      (javascript:void(0))  364 up, 31  down
>  (javascript:void(0))
>
> A Police officer. especially the ones that rides on  bikes.
>
> Orgin: California late 80's
>
> police officers that  patrols certain beaches on bikes wore a vest
> that said PO in huge  blockletters on each of their chest. which
> means Police Officer. they  usually ride around in group of two's.
>
> when you see them coming by.  you see the word "PO" "PO" when they
> stand next to each other. Man.. here comes the PoPo to tell us what
> to  do again. by _Lec2_
> (http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Lec2)  Feb 9,
> 2003 _email it_ (javascript:void(0))
>
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE BOOKS)
> _Ethics in Crime and Justice: Dilemmas and Decisions - Page  133_
>
>
(http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN053456349X&id=3Nnzg6ieoAgC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=po
> po+police&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=KOc6bUfVVg6BwYaxWfX1fbcoFSs)
> by Joycelyn M  Pollock - Law -  2003 - 440 pages
> The POPO (“pissing  offa police officer”) doctrine that
> describes how affronts to  police authority often end in unethical
> uses of force; .  ... ... ...
> (GOOGLE NEWS) _Many of Our Black Athletes Are Going Backwards; Not
>  Forward_
> (http://www.blackathlete.net/artman/publish/article_02401.shtml)
> BlackAthlete.net -  <NOBR>Sep 29, ... Now there is nothing wrong
> with  hanging out with teammates but this police blotter syndrome
> ...  Let me just say that if the Dallas PoPo had asked me questions
> that  ... ... ...
> (GOOGLE BLOGS) _Ticket?! WHAT?!_
> (http://lejolilapin.blogspot.com/2006/09/ticket-what_12.html)
> 12 Sep 2006 by Vicki  And I see  this popo (Texas slang for police)
>  sittin' on the inside of a  curve. So I thought "crap!" and I
> looked down at my speedometer and  thought "shit!". Because, I was
> doing about 60 in a 45. I was about to  put my foot on the brake ...
> _Bloggin' -  http://lejolilapin.blogspot.com_
> (http://lejolilapin.blogspot.com/) ... ... _I Hate Cops_
>
(http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=30980978&blogID=180024225)
     16 hours ago Our law enforcement, better known as the  police/cops/popo,
are generally assholes. Actually, I  like to think of them as the local
gestapo. I've met more of them than  I would've lik... _My Blog -
http://blog.myspace.com/30980978_
> (http://blog.myspace.com/30980978) ... ... _THE  "POPO" GOT US._
> (http://cadarlo.livejournal.com/8777.html)      8 Oct 2006 by Arissa
>  ...  the neighborhood and we got pulled over by the po-po in front
> of  the church. ... The police pulled us over because  someone
> called them on us for playing ... So he made me sit  there in the
> backseat of the police car for 20 minutes,  ... _Bonzo Goes to
> Bitburg -  http://cadarlo.livejournal.com/_
> (http://cadarlo.livejournal.com/)
>
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