Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 alpha 4/15/85; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!kre From: kre@ucbvax.ARPA (Robert Elz) Newsgroups: net.movies,net.games.trivia Subject: Re: Witch question Message-ID: <8826@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Sat, 6-Jul-85 01:55:16 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8826 Posted: Sat Jul 6 01:55:16 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 6-Jul-85 10:37:24 EDT References: <767@burl.UUCP> <903@mtgzz.UUCP> Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 38 Xref: watmath net.movies:6899 net.games.trivia:2025 Summary: Explanation of "It's a fair cop." In article <903@mtgzz.UUCP>, leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) writes: > > >In "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", villagers accuse a > >local maiden of being a witch. After going through some > >rather twisted and amusing logic, they finally put her to > >the test - if she weighs the same as a duck then she is > >surely a witch. As the balance is struck, the maiden speaks > >under the noise and celebration of the delighted villagers. > >What did she say? > > > > She says "It's a fair cop." .... > The phrase may be a Britishism. .... > On the other hand it may be just a > Pythonism. Someone out there know more about this particular phrase. > "It's a fair cop" is phrase that the (Brit, Aust) police say that you said when they verbal you in court. It is famous for being something that no criminal that's caught would *ever* say. (A "verbal" is the police rendition of a verbal confession made by the accused, which was never reduced to writing. It is evidence, sometimes, the only evidence, and can convict by itself. Needless to say, there have been occasions where a policeman, "knowing" he has the perpertrator of some crime, will create a verbal confession for the accused. This is "a verbal". The words "its a fair cop" are (were?) typically used in such cases to indicate that the captured criminal is admitting that his being caught ("copped") is correct, and fair -- he is admitting guilt). I haven't seen "Holy Grail", but this sounds as if its typical Python double humour. Robert Elz ucbvax!kre ps: you wouldn't believe the amount of time my Evidence lecturer spent on the intracacies of the verbal...