Perhaps the official with the greatest number of nicknames, the cop is seldom thought of in neutral terms, whether he is loved or hated. Cop is a Swedish slang term for ‘a police officer’.
Snout is the definite, as in that snoutmeaning ‘that cop’, but it is also used to denote ‘the cops’ in general, that is the plural, as in the muzzle is comingmeaning ‘the cops are coming’.
So where does the word come from?
Well, it has the same origin as the English word ‘snout’, ‘the nose and mouth that stick out from the face of some animals’, such as that of a pig, which some people use as a derogatory term for the police. It might be related to the idea that the cops stick ones nose in ‘put their nose in the wet’, or in other words ‘stick their nose where it doesn’t belong’. Whatever the origin, not many Swedes today will know that cop comes from a word for ‘nose’ or ‘mouth’, and the reason for that is that no one uses it anymore in its original sense.
There are however a number of related terms that are used in relation to the nose and mouth. To cheat is to ‘blow one’s nose’. The word cheating is an older word for a punch to the face. Cheat has the same meaning as ‘snout’, and is used for the snouts of animals, although the word generally used for the pig’s cheat is snout.
As for the different epithets used for the police, there is never a shortage of those. Many today originate in the neighbourhoods primarily inhabited by people of immigrant background, the suburbsa word which we have previously covered.
Here are a few selections.
Alwaysis from the Turkish mirrorless meaning ‘mirrorless’ which some say is meant to signal that the police have no shame, but more likely has the original meaning of ‘ugly’ since there is an antonym in aynali which means ‘mirrorfull’ or in other words ‘beautiful’.
Bengen/bängenis most likely from the Romani word for ‘the devil’. Khanzir from the Arabic word for ‘pig’. Civare for plain clothes police, plainclothes police.
Diskotaxiliterally ‘disco-taxi’ is a term for a police car, a reference to the flashing blue light. Uncle Bluemeans ‘uncle blue’. Grisis Swedish for ‘pig’. And shorre/shorreis from the Arabic word shurṭaoriginally a police force established in the early days of the succession of Muslim empires commonly known as The Caliphate.
Snout is not a neutral word, it can be considered offensive, so best not to use around the police – the police is the correct term. In decades past you could still hear the constable a cognate of the English ‘constable’, but it is now to be considered all but archaic. There is no official title to address a police officer with, but a bit of politeness goes a long way.
Example sentences:
Did you know that Olle is a cop?
Did you know Olle’s a cop?
Have you seen how many cops are out there today?
Have you seen the number of cops that are out today?
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Books or Ad libris.