List of Police-related Slang Terms - T

T

Taquero

Argentinean lunfardo term for police officers. Derived from their habit of cutting the gangster's heels (tacos) in the early 20th century.

The Thin Blue Line

The role of the police in being the barrier between civilized society and chaos, inspiring a UK TV sitcom and two documentaries of the same name. This led to policemen involved in entrapping gays being ironically referred to as "The Thin Blue Jeans."

Thulla

Northern-Indian/Pakistani Hindi/Urdu term for a cop with a baton (known locally as a "laathi").

Tinned Pig

derogatory term in some areas of southern England to refer to police in police cars.

Tira

Mexican slang for police car or policeman.

Tira

Brazilian slang for policeman.

Tit-Heads or Tits

Rarely used derogative British term for uniformed police officers originating in the shape of traditional UK police custodian helmet worn by patrolling (male) officers which are or were a similar shape to a large female breast – as in the phrase (to a policeman) "take the tit off your head" meaning "relax" or "imagine you are not on duty".

Tombo

Largely used in Perú, and in some parts of Colombia to call police officers. Etymological origin its based in an inversion of the Spanish word for button. In the early twentieth century the uniforms of the Peruvian police officers had very big buttons. The word is "botón" in Spanish. The thiefs inverted the word "Ton-bo". You could see that the inversion is "Tonbo", with an "n", and not "tombo" with "m", but in Spanish an "n" cannot precede a "b".

Town Clown

Town or city police officers, contrasted with county or state police. Usually considered derogatory.

TP (plural TP's)

Abbreviation of Traffic Police, used in Singapore.

Troll

A term coined in South Florida (Palm Beach County). Made famous by the song "Troll Down".

Txacurra

Dog in Basque referring to police officers, similar to the use of "dog" in English.

Twig Pig

Forest Ranger/Woods Cop

Twinrova

Rarely used in reference to police cars bearing red and blue lights on top of the car (only in Victoria, Australia and Los Angeles).

Tyre Biters

A term typically used for country police officers because of their habit of being involved with frequent car chases.