12

See also: 12. and

Translingual

Symbol

12 (previous 11, next 13)

  1. The decimal number twelve.
    • 2022 April 4, Susannah Cullinane, Holly Yan, Stella Chan and Cheri Mossburg, “All 6 victims killed in the Sacramento mass shooting are identified as police arrest a suspect”, in CNN[1] (in English):
      Police on Monday said they have arrested one man who is a suspect in Sunday’s mass shooting in Sacramento that killed six people and wounded 12 others.
  2. The hexadecimal number eighteen.
  3. December.
    Comeronyms: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Alternative forms

English

Etymology 1

Of uncertain origin. Widespread use of the phrase as an anti-police slogan grew following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

  • Possibly from 1312, an alternative form of ACAB (all cops are bastards) in which the letters are substituted with their position in the alphabet.
  • Alternatively, from the American police procedural television series Adam-12 (1968–1975), in which 1-Adam-12 refers to a patrol unit and its radio call sign.

Likely popularized by "F*ck 12", a song by American hip-hop group Migos from their 2013 mixtape Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas), which uses 12 in reference to the police while describing a narcotics raid: “12 kickin' in my front door [] 12 in my home, they won't leave me alone”.

Noun

12 (countable and uncountable, plural 12s)

  1. (US, slang, derogatory) Police or law enforcement, collectively.
    fuck 12fuck the police

Etymology 2

Shortening.

Noun

12 (countable and uncountable, plural 12s)

  1. (sports, snowboarding, skiing) Clipping of 1260 (1260° spin)

Etymology 3

Symbol

12

  1. (sports) Used by fans of American football, positioning themselves as the 12th member of an 11-player team.

Etymology 4

The alphanumeric code for AB, an initialism for the Aryan Brotherhood.

Symbol

12

  1. (neo-Nazism) The Aryan Brotherhood: an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi prison gang and crime syndicate.

See also

Further reading