Black Maria

English

Etymology

Unknown, though such vans were traditionally painted black. First attested in the 1830s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blæk məˈɹaɪə/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə

Noun

Black Maria (plural Black Marias)

1. (slang) A police van for transporting prisoners.
   • 1867, Tony Pastor, “The Upper and Lower Ten Thousand”, in Tony Pastor’s Book of Six Hundred Comic Songs and Speeches:

     The Upper Ten Thousand have plenty of cash—
     At the Central Park, on the “Drive,” cut a dash;
     They have their light wagons, fast horses beside;
     In the free “Black Maria” the Lower Ten ride.

Synonyms

• paddy wagon

Related terms

• black and white

Translations

a police van for transporting prisoners

• Danish: salatfad n
• Finnish: mustamaija (fi), maija (fi)
• German: grüne Minna
• Macedonian: марица f (marica)
• Norwegian: svartemarje (no) c
• Russian: тюре́мная каре́та f (tjurémnaja karéta), вороно́к (ru) m (voronók), чёрный во́рон m (čórnyj vóron), чёрная Мару́ся f (čórnaja Marúsja)
• Swedish: Svarta Maja c

See also

• Thesaurus:police vehicle

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Black Maria”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.