I wrote a story and I've gotten a lot of good reactions. I've gotten a few complaints and they are all about the same thing. They say COP does not stand for Chief Of Police. I'm thinking yes it actually does. It just depends on where you're from. Since I've already finished my story but haven't finished posting it is there a way for me to send a message with my story explaining that?
Why do you feel it necessary to explain it? (As long as you define your meaning within the story, although I would think that it would be CoP and not COP, but what do I know. lol).
My point is that you should not worry about picking up pennies if there are dollar bills lying around. Look for the bigger things first and ignore readers who are trying to make you dance like a monkey by shooting close to your feet. If they aren't aiming for your leg, you shouldn't worry about them (and if you make big research mistakes, they will aim for your leg).
I think your attitude should differ depending on how they approach the issue. If they are reasonably friendly phrasing their comment as a question or suggestion you can be friendly back, if you have time to send an email. Explain as you did here, your reason.
If they are unpleasant about it, either be unpleasant back or ignore it. Don't let the bastards wear you down. Life is too short to let little things irritate you. And mostly they are all little things.
I beg to differ. As Ernest and I have often discussed, you've got to be aware of regional differences. If most people view "COP" as an error, then you simply haven't presented it correctly. While you weren't, you weren't taken your international (or national, for that matter) audience into consideration. If you explain that COP stands for "Chief of Police", then just for clarity, I'd have some dumb transfer cop mumble "That's not how they abbreviate it where I'm from".
That's just enough of a clue that it's a regional abbreviation. Though, I've got to admit, even giving your odd use of it, I'd also spell it "CoP".
There's helpful information, there are suggestions, there's incorrect assistance, and then there's clarifications.
They say COP does not stand for Chief Of Police
Wikipedia has;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cop
not one usage listed is Chief of Police and the nearest is Community Oriented Policing. Most law enforcement organisations that have a Chief of Police simply call them Chief while others have a Commissioner of Police, some have a Chief Constable, some a High Sheriff, and some have a Sheriff as their senior law enforcement officer. As an acronym Chief of Police becomes CoP and you'd have to explain that at some point or most of the people wouldn't get it.
edit, I forgot to include Police Commissioner and some use military ranks for their law enforcement, thus the head police officer there is a Colonel or Commander. Nor should we forget Marshall.
Probably part of the issue is that cop (referring to a police officer) actually started as an acronym being short for "constable on patrol".
In American usage, prepositions are either left out of acronyms/initialisms or not capitalized. So Chief of Police would be either CP or CoP.
In American usage, prepositions are either left out of acronyms/initialisms or not capitalized. So Chief of Police would be either CP or CoP.
Thanks, DS, that was a better explanation than I had available.
But when people are talking they don't normally say, "Hey there's a CP at the door." They would say , "Hey there's a CoP at the door." And that's just an example. I know some would say police or some other name.
But when people are talking they don't normally say, "Hey there's a CP at the door." They would say , "Hey there's a CoP at the door." And that's just an example. I know some would say police or some other name.
They might say cop, but they wouldn't say Chief of Police (CoP). A cop is a cop is a cop. For most people there is no distinction between a plod, traffic cop, detective, CID, superintendent etc. They're all just cops.
If you're a fan of Police Academy, it's also Citizens on Patrol. LOL, sorry, just wanted to bring it up.
Citizens on Patrol. LOL, sorry, just wanted to bring it up.
Or use a cannon to get a cat out of a tree! Make sure you don't ride a motorcycle near any horse-trailers, either.
Should I snicker for having the set on DVD?
and the full title on the DVD is Police Academy (forget the number and too lazy to dig it out): Citizens on Patrol
If you're a fan of Police Academy, it's also Citizens on Patrol.
Damn, that was a long time ago now.
See you brought up a good point when you said "most peple" there are still people who like to stick with the ways they were taught. Think of the word "kid" for example.
But when people are talking they don't normally say, "Hey there's a CP at the door." They would say , "Hey there's a CoP at the door." And that's just an example. I know some would say police or some other name.
I was talking about the acronym/initialism for Chief of Police. Not a term for any officer. I am not aware of any jurisdiction where the Chief of Police participates in routine raids.
My understanding is that cop as an acronym/initialism for constable on patrol originated in England not the US, so the US rules don't apply.
The reason for them being called cops in the UK dates back to when the police were first organized by Sir Robert Peel. The uniforms had copper buttons, hence the derogatory term copper, from which cop is derived.
The term constable on patrol was probably created to explain a name already in existence for many decades, and is not the source of the term cop.
Wonder where "cop a plea" came from?
Same place "cop a feel" came from, meaning "handsy". I'll have to check the etymology, though.
The reason for them being called cops in the UK dates back to when the police were first organized by Sir Robert Peel. The uniforms had copper buttons, hence the derogatory term copper, from which cop is derived.
from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_police-related_slang_terms
Cop or Copper
The term Copper was the original, unshortened word, originally used in Britain to mean "someone who captures". (In British English the term Cop is recorded (Shorter Oxford Dictionary) in the sense of 'To Capture' from 1704, derived from the Latin 'Capere' via the Old French 'Caper').[6] The common myth is that it's a term referring to the police officer's buttons which are made of copper.
...........
Also, to cop a plea is from the same source and is short for to capture a plea from the authorities.
Also, to cop a plea is from the same source and is short for to capture a plea from the authorities.
So, to "Cop a feel" means to "Capture a feel"? Or is it to "capture a new pair of tits"? 'D
By the way, decent information, even if you relied on Wikipedia for it.
So, to "Cop a feel" means to "Capture a feel"? Or is it to "capture a new pair of tits"?
Can't be the latter, because you can "cop a feel" of ass or other body parts too.
"cop a feel" of ass or other body parts too
it's still a capture of the part involved, even if only temporary.
Reinforcing the point that "of" often doesn't make it into acronyms, USA omits the of. United States of America would look strange to most people as USoA. If absolutely necessary, I have very occasionally seen US of A. As opposed, I guess to the former Union of South Africa as U of SA. Its a Republic now, not a Union. More Union bashing.
There is a USO. United Service Organization. Entertains and provides services to the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and any and all other armed services. Mostly overseas. The Red Cross used to do some of that work, hence donut dollies, take two, no more. But they have cut back to mostly domestic civilian (disaster, etc.) work. There is a separate International Red Cross, to which the ARC belongs. I think the International includes red crescent for Moslem countries and whatever Israel uses, the hexagon symbol. It was based on the Swiss Flag, with colors reversed. Some places are more sensitive about crosses than others. Vampires?
and whatever Israel uses, the hexagon symbol.
I would think they would use the Star of David.
The symbols used by the International Red Cross are the original cross. Then a red crescent and a red diamond, actualy a square shape.
The symbols used by the International Red Cross are the original cross. Then a red crescent and a red diamond, actually a square shape.
There's also the Red Mogan David, but that may be a separate organization, and is only in Israel.
http://www.acronymfinder.com/COP.html
Chief of Police is one of 155 recognized meanings for COP. Always, always, always define your acronyms before using them if there's any possibility that a reader won't know what you mean by it.
Agreed. That's the key here. Use whatever acronym you want, but be sure the reader gets the definition if it isn't universally known. Few people would need USA spelled out, but I wouldn't know COP means Chief of Police without the author mapping it for me in the narrative.
Few people would need USA spelled out
A fact the city of Usa Japan capitalized on, labeling products "Made in Usa", until they were called on it.
Test/trial of HTML abbr tag, very useful for inline glossary entries:
CoP
-- it's stripped out by the forum processing, so probably would be in the stories.
--and I can't even use html entities to show the HTML code, either!
-- it's stripped out by the forum processing, so probably would be in the stories.
--and I can't even use html entities to show the HTML code, either!
SOL's html support is minimal. It ignores the vast majority of the html commands!
I've heard that before, but I don't believe it's true. Snopes calls the claim that the town was renamed to Usa FALSE, and further explains why it is highly unlikely that any products sold in the USA had a 'Made in Usa' label. http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/usa.asp
