Contents
- 1 English
- 1.1 Alternative forms
- 1.2 Etymology
- 1.3 Pronunciation
- 1.4 Noun
- 1.4.1 Usage notes
- 1.5 Further reading
English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]
From the police procedural television series Hawaii Five-O (first aired in 1968), so named because it is set in Hawaii, which is the 50th U.S. state.
Pronunciation
[edit]
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]
five-o (uncountable)
- (US street slang) The police. [from 1980s]
1989, “Car Thief”, in Paul's Boutique, performed by Beastie Boys:
Five-oh caught me, now I'm going to the mountains / Said good-bye to my girl, my lawyer and accountants
Usage notes
[edit]
- Typically shouted as a warning of approaching police by lookouts at a site of drug-dealing etc.
Further reading
[edit]
- “five-ohn.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
- Eric Partridge (2005) “five-oh”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 1 (A–I), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 754.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=five-o&oldid=79986784"