Mopery () is a vague, informal name for minor offenses. The word is based on the verb ''to mope'', which originally meant "to wander aimlessly"; it only later acquired the sense "to be bored and depressed". The word ''mope'' appears to have first been used in the 16th century, and appears in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's works. It has occasionally been put into use by police as a charge to bring when no other legitimate charge seems appropriate. It has also been used for satiric or comedic effect in books and films.

Definitions

In 1970, in

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, mopery was defined as " loitering while walking, or walking down the street with no clear destination or purpose", and was used by police to stop and interview

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

"hippies" who were regarded as unsavory. Some of those arrested were aggressively prosecuted by public prosecutor Karl T. Chrastan. In discussions of law, ''mopery'' is used as a

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to mean some crime whose nature is not important to the problem at hand. This is sometimes expanded to "mopery with intent to creep" or "mopery with intent to gawk". The word ''mopery'' has been used by authors

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

''( Gravity's Rainbow)'' and

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...

''(

The Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...

)'', among others, for whom it is usually a comic accent. In '' Catch-22'' ( Joseph Heller, 1961), the mildly rebellious Cadet Clevinger is

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

ed by three angry officers, who accuse him of "breaking ranks while in formation, felonious assault, indiscriminate behavior, mopery,

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

, provoking, being a smart-guy, listening to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, and so on". Similarly, in the 1984 comedy film, '' Revenge of the Nerds'', mopery is defined as "exposing oneself to a blind person". According to Russell Baker, "mopery isn't a crime, but only an old policemen's joke in which it's defined as the act of displaying yourself in the nude to a blind person."

References

External links

{{Wiktionary, mopery
"Mopery"
at The Word Detective Crimes Vagrancy laws

Definitions

See also

References

External links