Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see also under relevant n.

(Aus. prison) to receive a reprimand, a severe criticism.

1990

Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 To ‘cop a bake’ or ‘baking’ is to receive a dressing down. Cognate with applying heat.

(US black) to get something (for nothing?) from someone.

1965		W. King ‘The Game’ in King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 303: By now, two-three other hipsters have also eased in, all planning to cop a beg since it was evident that Logan X was pretty clean and just might be open to said beg.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 21: I never got on or off the elevator that I wasn’t approached by a wino, trying to cop a beg.

(US campus) go away!

1938

Reading (PA) Eagle 20 Mar. 7/3: If a student wants to study and his room is invaded by his fraternity or dormitory brothers, he politely tells them to leave by saying [...] ‘cop a sneak’ ‘cop a breeze’ or ‘take a powder’ .

see cop a broom under broom n.¹

(Aus.) in fig. use, to die.

1977

(con. 1941) R. Beilby Gunner 12: He had joined the Battalion on its return from Libya, replacing Daniels who had copped a bundle at Derna aerodrome.

to pretend to be deaf or at least not to hear the last statement; thus ext. to deliberately ignore any form of wrong-doing (cf. sling a deaf ’un under sling v.).

1958		F. Norman Bang To Rights 19: I copped a deaf-un and kept on walking.
1962		F. Norman Guntz n.p.: Cop a deaf-un because otherwise Karl Marx is gonna get you.
1984		‘Derek Raymond’ He Died with His Eyes Open 97: The govrnor’s kick-backs for copping a deaf ’un were too big.
2014		D. MacShane Prison Diaries 350: The screws look on with indifference, copping a deaf ’un.

see cop a joint

(orig. US black) to die.

2000

(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad 36: Cop a drear Die, expire, cash in your chips.

1. to move off at a steady, regular pace.

1944

D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 12: I cops a drill right after them.

2. in fig. use, to die.

1944

‘Jiver’s Bible’ in D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive.

to leave.

1939

Cab Calloway ‘For the Last Time I Cried Over You’ 🎵 Oh, man, that soft cut out on me. / What you sayin’? / Yes, she copped a final on me.

(UK und.) of a confidence trickster, to trick a victim.

1879

London Life 2 Aug. 2/1: The ring droppers are busy in ‘copping flats’.

to be severely reprimanded, punished or beaten.

1935		New Statesman 28 Sept. n.p.: He [i.e. Mussolini] will cop a flower-pot if he goes on like this.
1960		J. Franklyn Dict. of Rhy. Sl.

see take a gander (at) under gander n.³

1. (US, also cop a doodle) to perform fellatio [joint n. (1)/doodle n.² (1)].

c.1930		(ref. to 1868) N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 89: A guest could [...] have his joint copped, or be blown.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 49/2: Cop a joint. See Cop a doodle [i.e. to fellate].
1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 9: cop a joint (v.): To perform fellation as a receptor.
1970		E. Thompson Garden of Sand (1981) 144: What the hell were you doin, Miss Frosty Pants, while I was coppin that old fart’s joint?
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 148: How about if I cop your joint [...] you know, give you some head, blow you, suck your cock, that sort of thing.
1978		P. Hamill Dirty Laundry 38: He’s been copping joints in men’s rooms all over town.
1984		L. Paros Erotic Tongue n.p.: The professionals helped forge a common tongue. A man now had his joint copped, had some derby, or had his hat nailed to the ceiling. More frequently, men spoke of being blown or having a blow job (all since early 20th C).
1987		R. Campbell Alice in La-La Land (1999) 79: But can it sit on your lap, Bernie? [...] Has it got good legs? Can it cop your joint on the lunch hour?

2. (US prison) to smoke a cigarette [joint n. (5c)].

1971–2

C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 201: cop a joint, v. – to smoke a cigarette.

(N.Z. prison) to receive a sentence.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 46/1: cop a lag v. 2 to be convicted.

(US gay) to sodomize.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 87: anal intercourse [...] cop [an ass] (cool sl, mid ’60s).

see separate entries.

to get drunk.

1937

J. Curtis You’re in the Racket, Too 60: Of course, if he’s copped a reeler you’ll have to skip it.

(Aus.) to take a look.

1977

(con. 1941) R. Beilby Gunner 13: ‘Cop a slew of that bint.’ ‘God! How horrible!’.

1. to run away or escape surreptitiously.

1895		Anaconda Standard (MT) 29 Sept. 10/2: Are you trying to cop a sneak on me?
1900		A.H. Lewis ‘Politics’ in Sandburrs 97: I cops a sneak on d’ door, side-steps d’ outfit.
1912		D. Lowrie My Life in Prison 33: He copped a sneak one day.
1929		H.C. Witwer Yes Man’s Land 6: Suppose the whole two of us cop a sneak and do a hitch at one of them health farms?
1937		T. Thursday ‘Good Luck is No Good’ in Federal Agent Nov. 🌐 I can cop the sneak alone okay, but it ain’t healthy to travel tandem.
1944		C.S. Montanye ‘Publicity for the Corpse’ in Thrilling Detective Dec. 🌐 Gavitty said you copped a sneak out last night at ten-thirty.
1957		‘Weldon Hill’ Onionhead (1958) 150: ‘I’m coppin’ a fast sneak to Detroit’.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 795: cop a sneak – To walk away.
1986		R. Campbell In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 15: Don’t try coppin’ a sneak.

2. in imper. use of sense 1.

1938

Reading (PA) Eagle 20 Mar. 7/3: If a student wants to study and his room is invaded by his fraternity or dormitory brothers, he politely tells them to leave by saying [...] ‘cop a sneak’ ‘cop a breeze’ or ‘take a powder’ .

3. to absent oneself from work or duty.

1952

(con. 1920s) ‘Harry Grey’ Hoods (1953) 321: Go ahead and cop a sneak. The truck won’t be ready for quite a while.

4. (US prison/Und.) to attack from behind; to ambush.

1929		Hostetter & Beesley It’s a Racket! 222: cop a sneak — To take advantage of someone.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks 26/1: Cop a sneak, to assault from behind.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 50/1: Cop a sneak. 1. To assault stealthily.
1971–2		C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 201: cop a sneak, v. – to hit someone unexpectedly.

5. to break into and rob, esp. spontaneously.

1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 63: ‘Copping a sneak’ is a term applied to robbing a place on the spur of the moment. Many daring burglars will cop a sneak but the expert professional prefers to plan a job more carefully.
1938		J.E. O’Donnell ‘Overcoat Bennie’ in Mss. from the Federal Writers’ Project 🌐 Well, St. Louis Jimmy heard about ‘Spud’s’ generosity and decided to look into the matter and one night he ‘copped a sneak’ into Sadie’s apartment and lassoed the necklace while she slept.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 50/1: Cop a sneak. [...] 3. To steal something when one is at a psychological disadvantage; to steal impulsively, without a plan of action or escape.

6. to behave surreptitiously.

1938		D. Runyon ‘Baseball Hattie’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 650: He is commencing to cop a few sneaks on the local corn now and then.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.

1. (US black) to sit down; also as imper. cop a squat, take a seat, make yourself at home.

1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 26: Cop a trot! Cop a trot! Then cop a squat, all.
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 482: cop a squat: To take a seat. Cop a squat and stay awhile.
1972		D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 61: cop a squat v. to take a seat; sit down.
1983		R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 214: He crossed to his desk, gesturing to the wingchair facing it, ‘Cop a squat’.
1998		Eble Campus Sl. Apr.
2009		W.D. Myers Dope Sick 10: ‘Why don’t you cop a squat and check yourself out on the tube’.

2. (US gay) of a man, to sit down when urinating.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 54: cop a squat (’50s) to sit down to urinate.

(US) to steal.

1967

P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 73: ‘Hey,’ Crip asked, ‘ain’t you gonna pay for them bags of Kool-ade?’ ‘Naw, if we cop a steal, we might as well go all the way.’.

(US black) to stop somewhere, to pause.

1944

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 16 Sept. 12A: Let’s cop a stop here and knock a drop.

to lose one’s temper.

2001

OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 cop, n. (1) to lose the temper. Amusement could be had by taunting an increasingly frustrated student by shouting ‘COP! COP! COP!’ until he ended up ‘doing a loony’ and hitting everybody. (1) f. ‘cop the strop’.

see under Sunday (punch) n.

(US black/Harlem) to take a walk.

1944

D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 19: They can’t dig a spade and a fine young gray scribe copping a tapper on the main drag.

(US) to leave; usu. as imper. cop a walk, go away.

1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 249: Go on, Dinch, cop a walk.
1959		W. Brown Teen-Age Mafia 53: I’m copping a walk for myself. What about you? [Ibid.] 69: he could go over, open the door and cop a walk for himself.
1970		E. Thompson Garden of Sand (1981) 298: Cop a walk, kid!
1981		W.D. Myers Hoops 126: Why don’t you cop a walk and come back in about an hour’.
2013		W.D. Myers Cruisers: Oh, Snap! 43: ‘I asked them if they had a search warrant. They didn’t, so I told them to cop a walk!’.