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Supergrass (informer)
Supergrass is a British slang term for an informer, which originated in London. Informers had been referred to as "grasses" since the late-1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city's underworld who testified against former associates in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.〔(Jackson, John D. "THE JURY SYSTEM IN CONTEMPORARY IRELAND: IN THE SHADOW OF A TROUBLED PAST." )〕 One of the first police informers to receive the 'supergrass' nickname was Bertie Smalls.
==Origin of the term==
The first known use of "grass" in that context is Arthur Gardner's crime novel ''Tinker's Kitchen'', published in 1932, in which a "grass" is defined as "an informer".〔Gardner, Arthur. ''Tinker's Kitchen''; R. L. Allan; 1932; ASIN B000S66R7Q〕 The origin of the term "grass" being used as signifying a traitor, a person who informs on people he or she knows intimately, ostensibly can be traced to the expression "snake in the grass," which has a similar meaning.〔("Snake in the grass" ), Wiktionary〕〔See ''McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs'', The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2002〕 The phrase derives from the writings of Virgil (in Latin, ''latet anguis in herba'') and has been known in the English language, meaning "traitor," since the late 17th century.〔("grass up" (v.) ), Gary Martin, PhraseFinder online〕
An alternative claim is made for the term originating from rhyming slang, whereby "grasshopper" is defined as "copper," meaning "policeman."〔
Farmer, John Stephen & William Ernest Henley ''Dictionary of Slang''; 1893〕 The rhyming slang version was supported in 1950 by lexicographer Paul Tempest, who wrote〔Tempest, Paul ''Lag's lexicon: A comprehensive dictionary and encyclopaedia of the English prison to-day''; Routledge & K.Paul; 1950; ASIN: B0000CHSO0〕
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