5-O

November 22, 2006 10:01 PM

How did police officers get the nickname 5-O?

I have heard that term numerous times, but never really understood why officers were called that. Actually, I never understood any of the nicknames. My powers of Google fail me.

posted by C17H19NO3 to law & government (5 comments total)

Hawaii Five-O
posted by juv3nal at 10:07 PM on November 22, 2006

I can't believe I missed that. Thanks.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 10:13 PM on November 22, 2006

juv3nal's got it. The term originated with the TV show "Hawaii Five-O" in which Five-O was a fictional Hawaiian state police agency. The producer chose to call it Five-O because Hawaii was the 50th state admitted to the union.
posted by RichardP at 10:13 PM on November 22, 2006

General note: a good place to look up the meaning and origin of slang is The Urban Dictionary.
posted by pollystark at 2:24 AM on November 23, 2006

True story:

Her: That guy is really short.
Me (not listening): Yeah.
Her: I mean, he's probably shorter than me. He's gotta be 5-0.
Me: He's a cop?
Her: What?
Me: What?
Her: I said he was short.
Me: You said he was a cop.
Her: Were you not listening?
Me: Umm ... no.
Her: I fucking hate you sometimes.
posted by frogan at 10:11 AM on November 23, 2006