paddy wagon
A police van for hauling arrestees.
Definitions
The police van that scoops up the cuffed and drives them to the station. Name's grim — 'Paddy' was a slur for Irish people, and the term comes from either Irish-American cops driving them or Irish immigrants filling the back. Still in everyday US use, history attached.
paddy wagon In A Sentence
Origin & Usage
Late 19th-century US, from 'Paddy' (slur for Irish) — either referring to Irish-American police officers or Irish arrestees in 1800s American cities.
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