The Old Bill
the police (authority)
TRANSLATION
The Old Bill = die Polizei
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
One day Moshe Dayan, who lost an eye while fighting in the British army during World War II, was stopped for speeding by The Old Bill. "I have only one eye," he protested. "What do you want me to watch - the speedometer or the road!?"
Dayan, Moshe (1915-1981) Israeli minister of defense (1967, 1969-74) and foreign minister (1977-79)
Dayan, Moshe (1915-1981) Israeli minister of defense (1967, 1969-74) and foreign minister (1977-79)
Did you
know?
The Old Bill (British)
noun phrase
- the British police
---
ORIGIN
The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard lists 13 possibilities for the origin of the phrase, here are six:
(1) Old Bill referred to King William IV who came to the throne in 1830, a year after the Metropolitan Police were founded
(2) The Custom of the Century a play of 1619 by John Fletcher has constables of the watch refer to themselves as "us peacemakers and all our bill of authority"
(3) Old constables of the watch were sometimes nicknamed for the bills or billhooks they carried as weapons
(4) Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia (Kaiser Bill) visited England about the time that police adopted the current shaped helmet in place of a top hat in 1864 and this association may be relevant
(5) New laws for the police start their life as bills in Parliament
(6) 'Old Bill' might refer to the music hall song "Won't you come home, Bill Bailey" also referring to the Old Bailey court
The slang phrase "Watch Out! Old Bill's about!" was in use in Covent Garden in 1968, and it is now commonly used as a slang phrase referring to the police, certainly made more familiar to the general public by the TV series "The Bill" about the police.
---
SYNONYMS
badge, blue, bluecoat, bobby, constable, constabulary, cop, copper, county mounty, detective, fed, flatfoot, force, fuzz, gendarme, gumshoe, heat, law, law enforcement, officers, patrolman, police
---
PRACTICE OWAD TODAY
"Call the Old Bill! - someone has stolen a laptop from the hotel conference room."
---
Before you go, REFRESH YOUR BRAIN
A next-day review boosts memory by 70%
What was yesterday's OWAD?
Kofferwort = P__________ W___
Blaxploitation is a genre of film that caught on in the 1970s, the name of which is derived from a P__________ of "black" and "exploitation."
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PO_________
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
POR________
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PORT_______
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PORTM______
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
PORTMANTEAU (WORD)
noun phrase
- the British police
---
ORIGIN
The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard lists 13 possibilities for the origin of the phrase, here are six:
(1) Old Bill referred to King William IV who came to the throne in 1830, a year after the Metropolitan Police were founded
(2) The Custom of the Century a play of 1619 by John Fletcher has constables of the watch refer to themselves as "us peacemakers and all our bill of authority"
(3) Old constables of the watch were sometimes nicknamed for the bills or billhooks they carried as weapons
(4) Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia (Kaiser Bill) visited England about the time that police adopted the current shaped helmet in place of a top hat in 1864 and this association may be relevant
(5) New laws for the police start their life as bills in Parliament
(6) 'Old Bill' might refer to the music hall song "Won't you come home, Bill Bailey" also referring to the Old Bailey court
The slang phrase "Watch Out! Old Bill's about!" was in use in Covent Garden in 1968, and it is now commonly used as a slang phrase referring to the police, certainly made more familiar to the general public by the TV series "The Bill" about the police.
---
SYNONYMS
badge, blue, bluecoat, bobby, constable, constabulary, cop, copper, county mounty, detective, fed, flatfoot, force, fuzz, gendarme, gumshoe, heat, law, law enforcement, officers, patrolman, police
---
PRACTICE OWAD TODAY
"Call the Old Bill! - someone has stolen a laptop from the hotel conference room."
---
Before you go, REFRESH YOUR BRAIN
A next-day review boosts memory by 70%
What was yesterday's OWAD?
Kofferwort = P__________ W___
Blaxploitation is a genre of film that caught on in the 1970s, the name of which is derived from a P__________ of "black" and "exploitation."
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PO_________
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
POR________
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PORT_______
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PORTM______
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
PORTMANTEAU (WORD)
