Charles Shafer (cshafer@chipsnet.com)
Sun, 12 Sep 1999 07:33:17 -0500
From: Takhoman@aol.com
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: RE: A Window Washer Has anyone on
this list come across the term "window washer" in referrence
to a position held by anyone working for a government agency,
ie: FBI or CIA, etc.? Always lurking, Paul Malone
I've never heard of that one, Paul. But it's interesting how
nicknames crop up. For instance, Perp for Perpetrator. I was
a cop in Chicago for 28 years and never once heard that used.
I suspect it's a NYPD usage. We said wrongdoer, or bad guy.
Another one is "Collar" for an arrest. Never heard that
either. We called it a "Pinch." Some are so colorful you have
to laugh, like in the French Connection when Gene Hackman
asked some criminal, "Have you picked your toes in
Pokipsee?"
(Sorry for the spelling) I mean, I about fell over laughing,
yet right away knew he was asking if the man had done time.
By the way, is there a jail in Pokipsee? And talk about word
usages for jails. Like, "Going up the river" in NY, while in
Chicago it's "Getting sent to the the farm." I remember when
I was a rookie, and was in on an arrest of a well-known bad
guy, who said, "Well, back at the Home Away From Home." That,
to me, was as good as it gets in word usage. In Chicago we
called the detective division, "The D." Cops in uniform
were
"In the Blue." I can go on and on, and looking above I guess
I already have. So, I'll shut up, and give somebody else an
opportunity to add a tidbit. Really, though, don't you think
such phrases make a book that much more interesting, and fun
to read?
Charlie
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