Friday, October 28, 2011

Synonyms For Pork

A peeler, two hoodies and a spide eating Monster Munch...ahh Belfast
I'm currently writing a novel about a policeman in Northern Ireland in the 1980's. In Ulster we get slang from England, America, Europe and we also have our own criminal argot, which is good for a novelist because it means there are many synonyms. Just as the Inuit allegedly have many words for snow we've got rather a lot for the police. I thought you might be interested in some of the terms available and a rough estimate of their popularity in Belfast. 
1. The Peelers
2. The Police
3. Copper
4. Cop
5. The Old Bill
6. The Bill
7. The Fuzz
8. The Peels
9. The Plod
10. Black Bastards (which refers to the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s uniform not to race (although this uniform is in fact a very dark green))
11. Bobbies
12. Rozzers
13. The Filth
14. The Scum
15. The Pigs
16. The Guards (the Irish police only)
17. The SS RUC
18. The Johnnies
19. The Five O’s
20. The Stench
21. The Yardies
22. The Sweeney
23. The Kojaks
24. Bacon Sarnies
25. The Roberts
26. The Rashers
27. Peeler Pete and his Porky Pals
28. The Looney Tunes
29. The Wilburs
30. The Screws (more usually prison officers)