Origin of the word 'cop'

Where did the word "cop" come from? Here's the origin story from Do's, Don'ts, and Maybes of English Usage by Theodore Bernstein:

"Cops are, of course, policemen. The slang word is neither of recent derivation nor an Americanism. The Oxford English Dictionary records a quotation using the word cop that is dated 1704. The slang verb cop meant to catch or arrest and one, who did that was a copper. Then copper was shortened to cop. One school of thought relates-copper to the copper buttons once used on police uniforms. Anyway, the cops themselves would rather be called officers. "

Voice

The voice of a piece has to do with style and tone. Here's Don Murray defining it, "The quality of writing, sometimes called. style or tone, that gives the reader the illusion of an individual person speaking to an individual reader."

VDT

VDT is the Visual Display Terminal, one of the terms used to describe the word processors on which reporters write their stories and have them edited, according to Don Murray.

No one uses such a terminal. Reporters use a desktop, laptop, or a tablet to write stories.

2-3-1 principle

2-3-1 principle is a method of organizing a news story. Here is how it is defined by Don Murray:

"A way of describing the points of emphasis in a unit of writing. The most important point is at the end, the next important point at the beginning, and the least in the middle."

Traditional journalism

Traditional journalism or colloquially known as old school journalism. It is defined as follows by Don Murray:

"Journalism in which the reporter emphasizes fact, makes no comment upon it, does not intrude on the story, and maintains a position as an objective, impartial deliverer of attributed information."

Takeout

"A story that attempts to put an entire issue in context," defines Don Murray.

Sidebar

Don Murray defines it as: "A subsidiary story that runs beside a main story."