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The Vocabularist: How 'copout' became a posh phrase | |
(1 day later) | |
The Bank of England should produce an impartial view of the consequences of Brexit and not "cop out" with a statement that the prospects are uncertain, a Financial Times columnist recently said. The phrase's meaning has changed, writes Trevor Timpson. | The Bank of England should produce an impartial view of the consequences of Brexit and not "cop out" with a statement that the prospects are uncertain, a Financial Times columnist recently said. The phrase's meaning has changed, writes Trevor Timpson. |
Cop-out has come to mean an evasion, an escape from facing up to something, but like many slang words it has an untidy history. | Cop-out has come to mean an evasion, an escape from facing up to something, but like many slang words it has an untidy history. |
It first appeared some 500 years ago in the Scots phrase "play cop out" where cop was equivalent to cup, meaning "playing empty the cup" or, frankly, boozing. | It first appeared some 500 years ago in the Scots phrase "play cop out" where cop was equivalent to cup, meaning "playing empty the cup" or, frankly, boozing. |
But the meaning of cop which has become dominant is to seize or grab, recorded since the 18th Century and maybe a northern English version of "cap" which is recorded once or twice before that. "Grab" is probably the origin of copper and cop meaning a policeman, both dating from the mid-19th Century. | But the meaning of cop which has become dominant is to seize or grab, recorded since the 18th Century and maybe a northern English version of "cap" which is recorded once or twice before that. "Grab" is probably the origin of copper and cop meaning a policeman, both dating from the mid-19th Century. |
Its own origin may be the Dutch verb "kapen" or the old French verb "caper", perhaps with the Latin capio, "take hold of" lurking in their ancestry. | Its own origin may be the Dutch verb "kapen" or the old French verb "caper", perhaps with the Latin capio, "take hold of" lurking in their ancestry. |
But the fact is, cop is a handy, punchy little sound and could mean whatever suited the user. Slang dictionaries from the 1940s on show that cop-out could mean a chance meeting, to confess, to inform, get into trouble, be defeated, and even "go to sleep" | But the fact is, cop is a handy, punchy little sound and could mean whatever suited the user. Slang dictionaries from the 1940s on show that cop-out could mean a chance meeting, to confess, to inform, get into trouble, be defeated, and even "go to sleep" |
All the same, we can get a general notion that "cop out" could mean "grab a way out" and so escape or evade. | All the same, we can get a general notion that "cop out" could mean "grab a way out" and so escape or evade. |
The bohemian writings of Jack Kerouac show the modern meaning taking shape. In his 1958 novella the Subterraneans, Kerouac wrote: "So I cop out, from the lot, from life, all of it, go to sleep in the bedroom." | The bohemian writings of Jack Kerouac show the modern meaning taking shape. In his 1958 novella the Subterraneans, Kerouac wrote: "So I cop out, from the lot, from life, all of it, go to sleep in the bedroom." |
It was a popular phrase in jazz circles. Duke Ellington recorded a number called Cop-out in 1957; in his 1973 autobiography Ellington wrote: "I would cop-out with something appropriate to my limitations… (but would soon) find my musical self breaking through." | |
By the 1960s copout was becoming a mainstream phrase. Time magazine in April 1966 had a much-cited cover story called Is God Dead? which quoted screenwriter Edward Anhalt as saying: "God is an infantile fantasy, which was necessary when men did not understand what lightning was. God is a cop-out." | |
In Britain, Kenneth Allsop wrote in 1967: "Drugs… are becoming the sanctioned cop-out of the young disaffiliated." | In Britain, Kenneth Allsop wrote in 1967: "Drugs… are becoming the sanctioned cop-out of the young disaffiliated." |
So "copout" has become first a literary, now almost an establishment phrase. If it had not, it might have gone through six more meanings by now, or been forgotten. | |
The Vocabularist | The Vocabularist |
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