Rozzer

Rozzer (noun / UK slang)

(Plural: Rozzers)

Definition: A copper. Old-fashioned slang for a police officer, usually said half-jokingly rather than with genuine venom.

Pronunciation: /ˈrɒz.ə/

Where It Comes From: Dates back to London in the late 1800s.

It almost certainly stems from Sir Robert Peel, the 19th-century Home Secretary who founded the Metropolitan Police. People already called them bobbies and peelers after him, so taking “Robert”, shortening it to “Bob” or “Rob”, and turning that into rozzer was pretty standard for Victorian street rhyming and cant.

A few slang dictionaries also link it to roussin, an old 18th-century French thief word for an informer or watchman that crossed over the docks.

How People Actually Use It: You don’t hear someone yell this in the middle of a bank heist; it’s too pantomime for that.

It gets dragged out when someone wants to take the mickey out of minor legal trouble. If you get caught riding a pushbike through a red light or your mate gets a ticket for parking on double yellows, that’s when you bring up the rozzers. It sounds more like an old Ealing comedy than an episode of Line of Duty.

Examples in the Wild:

• “Keep the back gate shut, the rozzers have been sniffing around the alley all morning.”

  Translation: “Keep the gate closed; police officers have been patrolling nearby.”

• “He got pulled by the rozzers on the A1 for having a brake light out.”

  Translation: “The police stopped his car over a broken light bulb.”

• “Hide your cans, rozzers on the platform.”

  Translation: “Put your drinks away; there are police officers waiting at the train station.”

Similar Slang: Copper, Old Bill, Plod, Fuzz, Bobbies, Five-O, The Law