Re: Need help on the British acronym P.C.

[m.j.mooney@bradford.ac.uk (Mike Mooney)]

Ken Tanguay wrote:

>
>Fellow Who-sters,
>
>This is more of a Beatles reference.  In the song "Maxwell's Silver 
>Hammer", they sing "P.C. 31, says 'We've got a dirty one', Maxweel 
>stands alone...".
>
>I was watching the Beatles movie "Help!"  and they were introduced
>to Bahamian Police officers as "this is P.C. 5, this is P.C. 6, etc".
>
>I know that it has somekind of COP (Constable on Patrol) reference,
>but what does P.C. stand for?  Principal Constable?  
>
>English Who-sters, please help out.
>
>

It's simpler than that: plain ol' POLICE CONSTABLE. You may also see
references to D.C. (Detective Constable, i.e. 'plain clothes' as opposed to
uniformed), D.S. (Detective Sergeant), D.I. (Detective Inspector), etc. Or,
if you prefer:

The Bill, The Cops, The Fuzz, The Filth, The Pigs, The Plods, The Rozzers,
The Bizzies, The Blue, etc., etc. 

Mike Mooney
University of Bradford (UK)

"A policeman's lot is not a happy one" (Gilbert & Sullivan, 'The Pirates of
Penzance')