"po-po" meaning in English

See po-po in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈpoʊˈpoʊ/ Forms: po-pos [plural], po-po [plural]
Etymology: Shortening and reduplication. From reduplication of the abbreviation PO (“police officer”), originally in reference to partnered bike officers in Southern California whose paired shirts would read POPO. POPO originated in Pontiac Michigan during Detroit's heaviest crime wave during the 1960s and 1970s and into the 1980s. People of the time migrated out and into other major cities, popularizing that term in other parts of the country. The "posterior" sense may be reduplication of the initial syllable of that word, with modification of the vowel according to its spelling. Compare German Popo (“bottom”) from Latin pōdex (“anus”). Etymology templates: {{m|en|PO||police officer}} PO (“police officer”), {{cog|de|Popo|t=bottom}} German Popo (“bottom”), {{m|la|pōdex||anus}} pōdex (“anus”) Head templates: {{en-noun|s|po-po}} po-po (plural po-pos or po-po)
  1. (colloquial, derogatory, US) The police; a police officer. Tags: US, colloquial, derogatory
    Sense id: en-po-po-en-noun-h-g7Edqk Categories (other): American English, American English Disambiguation of American English: 43 5 43 2 8
  2. (by extension) A prison officer, corrections officer, prison guard. Tags: broadly Categories (topical): Law enforcement
    Sense id: en-po-po-en-noun-9-W1Jnai Disambiguation of Law enforcement: 15 53 12 16 4 Categories (other): Australian English, English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English entries with topic categories using raw markup, English reduplicated coordinated pairs, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys, New Zealand English Disambiguation of Australian English: 12 47 22 13 5 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 7 44 19 25 5 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 10 43 20 20 6 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 6 51 24 13 6 Disambiguation of English reduplicated coordinated pairs: 18 31 22 15 15 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 9 45 19 19 8 Disambiguation of New Zealand English: 12 48 21 13 6
  3. (informal, US) One's posterior, bottom, buttocks. Tags: US, informal Synonyms: buttocks
    Sense id: en-po-po-en-noun-R4EfCvYD Categories (other): American English, American English Disambiguation of American English: 43 5 43 2 8
  4. (childish) Genitals, especially the vulva. Tags: childish
    Sense id: en-po-po-en-noun-HmjeESUG
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: popo
Etymology number: 1

Noun

Forms: po-pos [plural]
Etymology: See po po Etymology templates: {{m|en|po po}} po po Head templates: {{en-noun}} po-po (plural po-pos)
  1. Alternative form of po po (“mother-in-law; grandmother”) Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: po po (extra: mother-in-law; grandmother)
    Sense id: en-po-po-en-noun-6kNzbmKp
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for po-po meaning in English (8.2kB)

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "nl",
            "2": "popo",
            "bor": "1"
          },
          "expansion": "→ Dutch: popo",
          "name": "desc"
        }
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      "text": "→ Dutch: popo"
    }
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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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      "args": {
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        "2": "Popo",
        "t": "bottom"
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      "expansion": "German Popo (“bottom”)",
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      "args": {
        "1": "la",
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        "3": "",
        "4": "anus"
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      "expansion": "pōdex (“anus”)",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Shortening and reduplication.\nFrom reduplication of the abbreviation PO (“police officer”), originally in reference to partnered bike officers in Southern California whose paired shirts would read POPO.\nPOPO originated in Pontiac Michigan during Detroit's heaviest crime wave during the 1960s and 1970s and into the 1980s. People of the time migrated out and into other major cities, popularizing that term in other parts of the country.\nThe \"posterior\" sense may be reduplication of the initial syllable of that word, with modification of the vowel according to its spelling. Compare German Popo (“bottom”) from Latin pōdex (“anus”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "po-pos",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "po-po",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
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        "2": "po-po"
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  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997, Rik ‘G’ (lyrics and music), “Runnin’ From the Po Po” (0:23 from the start), in Rik ‘G’, Oakland, CA: Del Paso Heights",
          "text": "Runnin’ from the po-po\nRunnin’\nJust got my cash on\nNow I gotta get my dash on",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 September 10, David Simon & al., “Boys of Summer” (00:23:44 from the start), in The Wire, season 4, episode 1",
          "text": "Yo, po-po, man. Shut it down.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Liz Talley, Under the Autumn Sky, page 151",
          "text": "“Shit,” Brian breathed. “Who called the po-po?”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The police; a police officer."
      ],
      "id": "en-po-po-en-noun-h-g7Edqk",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, derogatory, US) The police; a police officer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
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      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "12 47 22 13 5",
          "kind": "other",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "New Zealand English",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "15 53 12 16 4",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law enforcement",
          "orig": "en:Law enforcement",
          "parents": [
            "Crime prevention",
            "Emergency services",
            "Law",
            "Crime",
            "Public safety",
            "Justice",
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Public administration",
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        "A prison officer, corrections officer, prison guard."
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        "(by extension) A prison officer, corrections officer, prison guard."
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          "kind": "other",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1952, Bob Merrill (lyrics and music), “Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-po)”",
          "text": "Feet up, pat him on the po-po\nLet’s hear him laugh\nAin’t seen a babe like this before\nHe’s so good-lookin’, gonna have some more\nFeet up, pat him on the po-po",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1953, Gramophone Record Review, page 564",
          "text": "[He] gets jelly on his head, jelly on his po-po, jelly on his.... well, you know what rhymes with jelly. If your Junior starts singing this in public he’ll show you up.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Michael Hotchkiss, Preparation Breeds Success, page 61",
          "text": "He once asked me how a particular customer was doing, sometime after I had executed a sale. […] Then he added, so as not to appear to be admonishing me, “Go and give them a pat on the po-po and see what is going on.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One's posterior, bottom, buttocks."
      ],
      "id": "en-po-po-en-noun-R4EfCvYD",
      "links": [
        [
          "posterior",
          "posterior"
        ],
        [
          "bottom",
          "bottom"
        ],
        [
          "buttocks",
          "buttocks"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, US) One's posterior, bottom, buttocks."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "buttocks"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962, Phillip Roth, Letting Go, page 269",
          "text": "Actually I prefer kids referring to their po-pos rather than their outer labias. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Kevin McGovern, “Was there really child sexual abuse or is there another explanation?”, in Michael Robin, editor, Assessing Child Maltreatment Reports: The Problem of False Allegations, page 123",
          "text": "On one Monday morning, one of the two children, Becky, complained about irritation around her “po-po.” […] This child indicated that Daddy had touched her there and she cried when he pushed on her sore spot.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Richard Green, Sexual Science and the Law, page 163",
          "text": "By contrast, a North Carolina court upheld the conviction of a father after a four-year-old, who had told relatives and authorities that her father had put his “ding dong” into her “po po,” pointed to a doll vagina and a doll penis and used the same terms to describe the alleged event.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Tara Overzat, Reverse Psychology, pages 8-9",
          "text": "“If you tell anyone what happens in this house, HRS will take you away. Do you understand? They’ll put you with people that will hurt your po-po.”\nI broke out in a sweat. Po-po was Mom’s word for between my legs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Genitals, especially the vulva."
      ],
      "id": "en-po-po-en-noun-HmjeESUG",
      "links": [
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        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(childish) Genitals, especially the vulva."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "childish"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpoʊˈpoʊ/"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "popo"
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  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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  ],
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}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
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}
{
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      "form": "po-pos",
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        {
          "ref": "1997, Rik ‘G’ (lyrics and music), “Runnin’ From the Po Po” (0:23 from the start), in Rik ‘G’, Oakland, CA: Del Paso Heights",
          "text": "Runnin’ from the po-po\nRunnin’\nJust got my cash on\nNow I gotta get my dash on",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 September 10, David Simon & al., “Boys of Summer” (00:23:44 from the start), in The Wire, season 4, episode 1",
          "text": "Yo, po-po, man. Shut it down.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Liz Talley, Under the Autumn Sky, page 151",
          "text": "“Shit,” Brian breathed. “Who called the po-po?”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "The police; a police officer."
      ],
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        "(colloquial, derogatory, US) The police; a police officer."
      ],
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        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "derogatory"
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        "A prison officer, corrections officer, prison guard."
      ],
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        "(by extension) A prison officer, corrections officer, prison guard."
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        {
          "ref": "1952, Bob Merrill (lyrics and music), “Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-po)”",
          "text": "Feet up, pat him on the po-po\nLet’s hear him laugh\nAin’t seen a babe like this before\nHe’s so good-lookin’, gonna have some more\nFeet up, pat him on the po-po",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1953, Gramophone Record Review, page 564",
          "text": "[He] gets jelly on his head, jelly on his po-po, jelly on his.... well, you know what rhymes with jelly. If your Junior starts singing this in public he’ll show you up.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Michael Hotchkiss, Preparation Breeds Success, page 61",
          "text": "He once asked me how a particular customer was doing, sometime after I had executed a sale. […] Then he added, so as not to appear to be admonishing me, “Go and give them a pat on the po-po and see what is going on.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One's posterior, bottom, buttocks."
      ],
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          "posterior",
          "posterior"
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          "bottom"
        ],
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          "buttocks"
        ]
      ],
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        "(informal, US) One's posterior, bottom, buttocks."
      ],
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          "word": "buttocks"
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        "US",
        "informal"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962, Phillip Roth, Letting Go, page 269",
          "text": "Actually I prefer kids referring to their po-pos rather than their outer labias. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Kevin McGovern, “Was there really child sexual abuse or is there another explanation?”, in Michael Robin, editor, Assessing Child Maltreatment Reports: The Problem of False Allegations, page 123",
          "text": "On one Monday morning, one of the two children, Becky, complained about irritation around her “po-po.” […] This child indicated that Daddy had touched her there and she cried when he pushed on her sore spot.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Richard Green, Sexual Science and the Law, page 163",
          "text": "By contrast, a North Carolina court upheld the conviction of a father after a four-year-old, who had told relatives and authorities that her father had put his “ding dong” into her “po po,” pointed to a doll vagina and a doll penis and used the same terms to describe the alleged event.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Tara Overzat, Reverse Psychology, pages 8-9",
          "text": "“If you tell anyone what happens in this house, HRS will take you away. Do you understand? They’ll put you with people that will hurt your po-po.”\nI broke out in a sweat. Po-po was Mom’s word for between my legs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Genitals, especially the vulva."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "childish",
          "childish"
        ],
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          "Genitals",
          "genitals"
        ],
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(childish) Genitals, especially the vulva."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "childish"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˈpoʊˈpoʊ/"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "popo"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Green's Dictionary of Slang",
    "Police officer"
  ],
  "word": "po-po"
}

{
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "mother-in-law; grandmother",
          "word": "po po"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of po po (“mother-in-law; grandmother”)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "po po",
          "po po#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "po-po"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.