Court Rules Cops Can be Called Bulls

The incident occurred when two officers of the law rang the doorbell of a woman one morning, getting her out of bed. After she answered the door, half-asleep, her daughter asked her, "Those the bulls?"

"Yes," she replied. "Those are the bulls."

Bull, or "Bulle" in German, is a slang word for policeman -- more negative than the American "cop" but not as disparaging as "pig."

But the two officers at the door felt their honor had been insulted. They took advantage of a German law that can impose penalties on those who insult civil servants. A local court agreed with them, but the woman charged took her case to an appeal court in the city of Regensburg, which took a different view of the matter.

It all depends on how you mean it -- that "bull," that is.

The court ruled that "Bulle" is widely used in oral speech, known by everyone, and is not necessarily meant to compare the police officers to "an easily excitable, aggressive animal that tends toward blind, unconsidered acts of violence."

However, the German Lawyers Information Service has said that doesn't mean people have carte blanche to call policemen and women that name, especially when it's said with the goal to insult the officers of the law.

Next time you say "Bulle" in front of a cop, it might be better to say it with a smile.