Entry · catalog no. 1096
twelve
/ /twɛlv/ /TWELV
noun · Atlanta / the South · 2010s
✓ Verified
1.
The police. Used as a warning that officers are near, or as a plain name for law enforcement.
“Somebody yelled 'twelve!' and the whole corner scattered.”
Origin & Attribution
Black street term for the police, most documented as rising from Atlanta, where narcotics units carried radio and unit designations built on "12" through the 1970s–80s; lookouts shouted "twelve" to warn of an approaching narcotics car. (The number's exact source is debated — a police radio code and the TV series Adam-12 are also cited.) It moved into national speech through Atlanta rap, notably Migos' "F*ck 12" (2013).
1970s–80s
Atlanta narcotics units designated '12'; lookouts adopt it
2013
Migos' 'F*ck 12' spreads it nationally
2020
Ubiquitous in protest and everyday speech
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
Atlanta / the South · 2010s
Spoken by
Black Southern speakers, esp. Atlanta; spread nationally
$TWELVEThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising46 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
78/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1980
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Migos, "F*ck 12" — mixtape track (YRN) · 2013
submitted
■
+ Cite a sourcemental_floss / Distractify explainers on '12' origins — article · 2020s
submitted
See also