Know your English

“Cop it (S. Lalita, Palghat)”

“‘Cop it’ is an informal expression which means ‘get into trouble, be punished,’ ‘be killed.’

You will cop it for what you have done. He will cop it from his wife for not remembering her birthday.

‘Cop’ has several meanings. As a noun, it means ‘a policeman,’ ‘a capture or arrest.’

He is a nice cop.

She was copped for shoplifting.

‘Cop out of something’ is ‘to go back on a promise, to fail to do what one ought to do, especially through fear.’

He tried to cop out of it by saying he had no time.

‘Copout’ is a noun.

The meeting with the minister was a copout. The minister did not discuss the issues at all.

‘Not much cop’ or ‘no cop’ means ‘little or no value or use.’

She is not much cop as a writer.

He is no cop as a singer.

‘Copshop’ is a police station. ‘To cop a plea’ means ‘to plead guilty to a charge, especially with the intention of escaping more serious punishment which might result from standing trial’. This is recorded in American dictionaries but not in dictionaries published in Britain. Perhaps this expression is used only by American lawyers and judges.”

“In the picture (C.C. Jacob, Nagpur).” “‘In the picture’ means ‘fully informed.’

I don’t know anything about what happened at the meeting. Please put me in the picture.

She insisted on being put in the picture about what happened to her complaint to the police. There was a time when the expression meant ‘to be in the foreground or play a prominent part.’

He always wants to be in the picture.

In America the expression came to have the meaning ‘be informed, in the know’ as a result of the influence of German settlers. It is believed that some German(s) wrongly translated the

German phrase ‘im bilde sein’ and the Englishspeaking Americans accepted it. The new meaning has almost driven out the old meaning in Britain and America.

A cop saw a thief in a crowd. He copped him and took him to the copstation. The cop’s boss asked him to put him in the picture about the arrest and be vigilant or he would cop it.” “Procrustean (S. Bhatnagar. Jaipur)” “‘Procrustean’ means ‘seeking to enforce uniformity by forceful or ruthless methods.’ Procrustes was a robber in Greek legend. He used to put his victims on an iron bed and fit them to it by stretching their limbs or cutting them off. Any attempt to bring about uniformity through violent, irrational methods is called ‘Procrustean.’ ‘To stretch or place on the bed of Procrustes’ means to bring about crude uniformity.

He tried to confine our economy to the Procrustean bed of socialism.

I detest this Procrustean system of education.”

Published in The Hindu on August 20, 1991.