Paddywagon
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Paddywagon and Black Maria are slang terms for either a police car, or a police vehicle used to transport large groups of people who have been arrested.
The word paddywagon is of American origin. The precise origin of the term is uncertain and disputed, though its use dates back to at least the beginning of the 1900s.[1] There are at least three theories as how the phrase originated.[2]
- The most prevalent theory is based on the term "Paddy" (a common Irish shortening of Patrick), which was used (sometimes as derogatory slang) to refer to Irish people.[3] Irishmen made up a large percentage of the officers of early police forces in many American cities. Thus, this theory suggests that the concentration of Irish in the police forces led to the term "paddywagon" being used to describe the vehicles driven by police.
- An alternative theory is similarly based on the term "Paddy" but states that the term arose due to the number of immigrant Irish being arrested for having consumed too much alcohol and taken away in the vehicles.[4]
- The final theory holds that the name originates from the padding used on the inside of police horse-drawn carriages to prevent injury; [5] this last is regarded by lexicographers as an example of folk etymology[citation needed].
These vehicles were usually painted black or a very dark blue. Archaically in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, a police wagon was also sometimes called a Black Maria (using the archaic pronunciation i.e Mariah IPA: /məˈraɪə/). The origin of this term is equally uncertain. The OED lists the first usage as the Boston Evening Traveller from 1847 which mentions them as a new type of wagon. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable suggests the name came from Maria Lee, a large and fearsome black keeper of a sailors' boarding house who the police would call on for help with difficult prisoners. The term is still used today in parts of Britain for the vehicle that transports prisoners from gaol to court, appearing in the song "Guns of Brixton" by The Clash. Frequently, screened-in buses are also used for the same purpose. [1]
The term term also exists in Norwegian, where the same vehicle is called "Maja" or "Svarte-Maja", meaning Black Maria.
The Black Maria is also called 'Mothers Heart' as it is said that there is always room for one more.
The term is often used in some areas of Australia, specifically New South Wales[2] and Queensland[3] to refer to a general duties vehicle with a prisoner cage on the back. Australian paddywagons are typically based on small utility vehicles such as the Holden Rodeo or Toyota Hilux. In Victoria, Australia the term Divisional Van (or Divvy Van for short) is sometimes used.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary (2002); ISBN 978-0195219425
- ^ Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (1989); ISBN 0-02-605350-0
- ^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1993); ISBN 0-87779-201-1 , and The Cassell Dictionary of Slang (1998) ISBN 0-304-34435-4
- ^ Sowell, Thomas. The Economics And Politics of Race, p. 69
- ^ The Detroit News. The padding on the walls and floor of the wagons prevented the prisoners from injuring themselves.
