call the law

call the law pronunciation

/KAWL thuh LAW/

Meaning

In rural Southern and Appalachian talk, the law is the people who enforce it, not a stack of books. Call the law means ring up the sheriff, the deputies, or the state troopers. You hear it when a fight spills into the yard, a neighbor's dogs won't quit, or somebody steals a lawn mower. Saying "call the cops" can sound city. Folks in the holler still say call the law.

How folks use it

• “If he don't get off my property, I'm fixin' to call the law.”
• “Somebody already called the law. Lights are coming up the ridge.”

Origin and etymology

Older rural speech treated "the law" as the local sheriff or constable who stood in for the whole system. Calling the law meant summoning that person. The phrase stuck across Southern and Appalachian communities and still gets used that way in everyday talk.

Frequently asked questions