Hey all

While working on Near Wild Heaven II, I realised I needed a particular word, but I've been looking everywhere in my dictionaries and I couldn't find the word I'm looking for. My best bet would be my slang dictionary of course, but I left it at my apartment and I'm currently staying with my parents in another town. So I need your help!

All right, the word designates the people who investigate the police officers when something fishy went on in a police precinct (like a convict dying or something). They're the police of police, if you prefer. In French, we have a slang word for them (boeuf-carottes - "beef-carotts"). Is there an equivalent in English? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kaethel

Helene, they're called Internal Affairs or IA. I don't know of any slang term for them, though.

gerry

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*clears throat* Ahem. /me takes it down a notch

Yeah, we've always just called 'em Internal Affairs over here, too.

Jen

Drawing on my vast knowledge of the subject - gleaned from many years watching NYPD Blue - they're always called The Rat Squad by the detectives on that show. Because they 'rat out' fellow cops.


LabRat

Thanks for your help, guys! I knew I could count on you to find me the exact information I wanted. So, would "the rat squad" make sense to everyone? Rat mentions it here and Riv also mentioned it on irc. Or would it make your eyebrows shoot up? I can use IA otherwise.

Thanks again for your help, Gerry, Jen (LOL! Yes, I'm working on it) and Rat!

Kaethel

Sorry, Rat Squad on it's own would have made absolutely no sense to me. I'd have been sitting around scratching my head trying to figure that one out. Knowing the background now, I think it makes sense, but I think you need to preface it by first saying they are internal affairs. It's a cute, and apt, nickname for them, but those of us who have never watched NYPD Blue might be left in the dark if there's no prior explanation. Rat squad definitely sounds like something they would *say* in the dialogue, but I think you should introduce them as Internal Affairs in the narrative.

Annie

PS Yay, yay, yay for working on NWHII

I wouldn't have understood that term at first, either. OTOH, if you had someone from IA stop by, and a policeman saw him and asked, "What is the Rat Squad doing here?", I think everyone would immediately understand the term and how it was used. Just my humble opinion.

- Vicki

Hi,

Found this:

On-line Dictionary of Street Drug Slang
http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/slang/home.html

Example: Put the "police"

burn --to report a drug user or dealer to the police
cold bust --unplanned arrest for drugs after a police stop for another crime
fuzz --police officer; narcotics officer
man --heroin; drug dealer; the police
set up --use of informants to obtain a drug conviction; drugs planted by police prior to a drug raid
sting -- police trap set for unwitting criminals
stool --police informant; to cooperate with police
Bull --narcotics agent or police officer
Hot heroin --poisoned to give to a police informant
Hubba pigeon --crack user looking for rocks on a floor after a police raid
Rollers --police
Tweaker --crack user looking for rocks on the floor after a police raid

Police Slang and Codes
http://sinai.critter.net/mutant/dawn/slang.htm

Police dictonary, Police glossary, and police term directory
http://www.glossarist.com/glossaries/government-politics-military/police.asp

Drug Related Street Terms/Slang Words
http://www.addictions.org/slang.htm

A prisoners dictionary
http://dictionary.prisonwall.org/

Others

SlangSite.com
http://www.slangsite.com/

English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom
http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

Good Luck!

MAF

Personally-speaking, if you used the Rat Patrol, or the Rat Squad, or whatever, without letting your readers know what you meant by it, (and even if you did, maybe ) I might take it to mean that you were trying to slyly slip in a FoLC mention - after all, we *do* have a Rat in our midst!

Melisma (diving back under her Rock to avoid tomatoes)

Thanks for clarifying, guys. Okay then, I'll make sure that I use rat squad where it's very clear that I'm talking about the IA. Maria, thanks for the great links!! These can definitely come in handy.

Kaethel