Where does “pretty police” come from?
pretty police (English) comes from English police, from Middle French police, from Latin polītīa, from Ancient Greek πολιτεία, from Ancient Greek πολῑ́της, from Ancient Greek -της, from Proto-Hellenic -tāts, from Proto-Indo-European -teh₂ts — Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems.
pretty police (English): Male police officers disguised as gay men who instigated sexual encounters with gay men as an excuse to arrest them for soliciting sex
Definitions
- Male police officers disguised as gay men who instigated sexual encounters with gay men as an excuse to arrest them for soliciting sex
Ancestry of “pretty police”, step by step
pretty police traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English police
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | police | A civil force granted the legal authority for law... |
| 2 | Middle French | police | governance; management |
| 3 | Latin | polītīa | state, government, administration |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | πολιτεία | the relation in which a citizen stands to the... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | πολῑ́της | citizen |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -της | Forms nouns representing a state of being; Added... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | -tāts | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
via English pretty
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pretty | Pleasant to the sight or other senses;... |
| 2 | Middle English | prety | — |
| 3 | Old English | prættiġ | tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | prattugaz | boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | prattuz | boastful talk; deceit, trickery, stratagem, list,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | brodnó- | to wander about |