American Words

Hi, In the episode where Kramer is convicted of being the Smog Stranggler. When Jerry and George are in the back of the police car the real smog strangler asks them if they are narks. What's a nark? (also what does it mean to flip someone the bird?) Mike (the dumb Seinfeld fan)

Simple

NARC= Narcotics Officer (A cop who looks acts and dress as a normal civillian (undercover) to bust people for drug charges)

Flipping The Bird = Giving someone the middle finger

On Wed, 31 May 2000 18:26:48 +0100, "Mike-e" wrote:

In article , Spinkter wrote:

Surely it's older than this - the phrase 'copper's nark' has been in British use for donkey's years. I've heard characters being referred to as narks in British films going back to the thirties, I'm sure.

I always thought it was a civilian/criminal who provides information to the police (or more usually a particular officer).

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On Sat, 10 Jun 2000 15:44:17 +0100, wrote:

Some NARC's are police officers, other's are regular folks who are working for the police but not on a regular payroll. I knew junkies years ago that would sell information about other drug users to the police for money to sustain their own habits. The police knew these guys (and girls) were drug users but were more interested in the information they had than in busting them. The police, even though they used these civilian NARC's (snitches), disliked them and thought of them as scum because they would sell out their own kind. Some kind of Code Of Ethics I guess, like one cop doesn't rat out another cop.

The term "copper" used in reference to the police came from NY City police back in the 1920's or '30's. The buttons on their uniforms looked like copper pennies, thus the slang-term "copper". At least that's what I heard on the History Channel on TV. I've never heard the term "copper's nark", but it sounds like an informant for the police.

Someone who provides information to the police is called an Informant or a snitch.

I always thought 'cop' comes from Constable On Patrol, at least that's where the English cop comes from.

tea schreef in berichtnieuws [email]...

British use

British

the

narcotic police maybe??? Can�t think of anything else...

Mike-e wrote:

"narcs" - Narcotics Police, usually but not necessarily Federal, not local.

"flipping the bird" - was so well explained in the film "Top Gun" by Goose - it means showing your advisary the back of your closed fist with the middle finger raised. It is a sign of derision in the US. Jerry did a stand up routine about that - like how funny it is to show a body part as an insult - "Yeah, well here's my FOOT. How about that!"

Narc is drug culture slang for Narcotics Officer, or a cop that busts people for possessing illegal drugs.

Narcs often go undercover, posing as common drug users in an attempt to infiltrate the subculture so they can arrest more users and confiscate more drugs.

My all time favorite usage of the word 'narc' came in a Dennis Miller joke that I will paraphrase for you. I'll warn you now, it's dated.

Remember Walter Mondale? Ran for president, won a single state. One state. Received like 3 votes from the electoral college. He spent millions for three votes. I didn't spend a penny and I almost tied him. I mean, this guy made McGovern look like William the Conquerer. Anyone get the idea he'll turn up in an American Express commercial some day? Hi, do you know me? I ran for president a few years back, got stomped like a narc at a biker rally?

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