Its no Cop.

[Jemisa]

My nieghbour was telling me she's got to have a new boiler because her existing one was"No Cop" meaning not working, no good, useless, etc.

Made me wonder where the expression came from... Anyone know?

jem

[Hymie]

This is from Dictionary.com

— n
slang ( Brit ) ( usually used with a negative ) worth or value: that work is not much cop

[C19: n use of cop 1 (in the sense: to catch, hence something caught, something of value)]


And therefore:- not something caught (of value) – ‘Not much cop.’

[Jemisa]

Mmmm! Thankyou Hymie.

[Buenchico]

The OED suggests that 'cop', in this sense, might come from the obsolete 'cap' (meaning 'to arrest') from the Old French 'caper' (meaning 'to seize').

I've heard it suggested that 'not much cop' might have links to angling, where a tiddler is 'not much cop' because it's hardly worth catching.

[Jemisa]

Thanks too Chris.
Since asking the Q I've heard someone say "He copped off with all the best stuff" Copped Off??

Jem

[tonyav]

Copped off, snatch and run.