Inmates may not have a great deal of honour, but they do have one rule of conduct: No snitching. There are many colourful names for snitches.
First, snitches are positioned at the bottom of the inmate hierarchy. Second, snitching is a rare behaviour (7.6 per cent) and even rarer identity (1.8 per cent), consistent with a snitching paradox.
It is said to have originated from gang culture. If you were an informant, you would receive a cut on your face, showing other gang members or inmates that you had snitched to the police.
/snɪtʃ/ To snitch is to tattle on someone, and a snitch is someone who tattles. If you snitch on your brother when he "borrows" five dollars without asking, he might call you a snitch — but, on the bright side, he'll probably have to pay you back.
Telling on someone can be called various things, such as dobbing, tattling, or snitching. These terms mean the same thing, however, for this article, we will use the phrase telling on someone.
Rat, Fink, Pigeon, Cat—One who tells on his fellow convicts.
snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches.
To snitch indirectly by talking in an excessively loud voice, it was originally prison jargon. For example, instead of telling on you outright, a dry snitcher in the workplace speaks loud enough so that your boss or supervisor can hear what he or she was going to tell on you for, and gets you in trouble anyway.
In the social hierarchy of prison inmates, mob kingpins, accomplished bank robbers, and cop killers tend to get the most respect. Convicts who have committed crimes against children, especially sexual abuse, are hated, harassed, and abused.
Cause wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent: 7 years. Reckless wounding: 3 years. Discharging firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm: 9 years. Assault police officer occasioning bodily harm: 3 years.
An inmate "rolls out" when he requests that jail staff move him to another wing of the jail because he is in fear for his safety. Of course, even if an inmate rolls out, their troubles are far from over.
dry snitching is snitching without being pressured (police, violence). Wet snitching is under pressure.
Many want to do the right thing. Some are pressed into the role by officials. Some want revenge over a slight or want to exert power. Others want to remove a person who is an impediment.
Children tattle for many different reasons including seeking attention, jealousy or wanting to get someone in trouble, to show they know the rules, and others. They may snitch because they haven't yet developed the ability to think abstractly, so they interpret rules very rigidly.
(1931), rats have come to mean traitors or snitches. Why? Partly it's due to their bad reputation as filthy and deadly creatures (see below) and also because rats will flee sinking ships and collapsing houses, giving the impression of abandonment.
In the United States, Stop Snitchin' or Snitches Get Stitches is a call for informants not to cooperate with law enforcement.
More common these days, when someone is a snitch they “went bad”, “turned,” “flipped,” “gone over,” “no good,” “gone outside” or simply “talking.” Snitches are said to be “turning state” (from testifying as a witness for the state) or having “rolled” or “dropped a dime,” an archaic reference to using a pay phone to ...
People who look down on snitches have either been falsely accused or something and suffered personal damage or wounding from it, or they might be doing things that could potentially get them into trouble, including breaking laws.
Some punishments for snitching include getting jumped, maimed, and/or even killed. Snitches may feel like they are reducing crime. However, when snitches get lenient treatment from the police and do not get arrested, they are free to provide the police with information and commit a crime.
Dry snitching: In prison, dry snitching means to snitch indirectly by talking in an excessively loud voice or drawing attention from the guards, or offering some information but no names.
“Snitching” means exposing wrongdoing by a colleague or friend who is part of your work group or social network. In other words, snitching is a form of gossip.