Comments on: Give a little whistle

By: CGHill

CGHill — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:06:29 +0000

Amazingly, it’s short for “coppers,” which derives from the old “seize” definition of “cop,” the verb. They can, after all, arrest you.

(Webster’s New Collegiate is forever, or anyway for 28 years so far, at my side.)

By: Donna B.

Donna B. — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:44:21 +0000

I remember reading somewhere (I think it was at the Memphis police museum) about why cops had whistles instead of guns years ago. The idea was that the cop would witness a crime and blow the whistle to summon the help of citizens.

Of course, I could be remembering that wrong or it was BS in the first place.

And why are cops called cops?

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:08:10 +0000

Yeah, they’ll hand out whistles until someone’s kid swallows one, then whistles will be against the law, too.

By: J.S.Bridges

J.S.Bridges — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:13:31 +0000

New slogan for their city limits signage: Oak Park, IL – Home Of The Shrilly Noisy And The Dead

By: Jeffro

Jeffro — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:11:25 +0000

If you whistle in the woods and no one hears, was there really a crime committed? I’ll bet a shiny new whistle will stop a rabid skunk right in it’s tracks, too. Can’t you just feel the angst and fear that armed criminals will suffer with all those whistles?

By: Jeff Brokaw

Jeff Brokaw — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:18:58 +0000

It might be time to update the old saying: “like bringing a whistle to a gunfight”.

What gets me about these stories is the sense of accomplishment. “Here’s a whistle. Problem: Fixed!”

Right.