Cop On
Shrewdness, common sense, street-wisdom. As a noun: 'he has no cop on'. As a verb: 'will you cop on and stop wasting your money'. The noun is closer to good judgement; the verb is closer to 'wise up'.
Etymology
From the English verb 'to cop' (to catch, perceive, understand) plus the directional particle 'on'. The construction is older than Hiberno-English - 'to cop on to something' = to catch on, to understand - but the Irish English nominalised use ('cop on' as a noun meaning the faculty of understanding) is distinctive. The Hiberno-English form has the additional moral weight of expecting the listener to grow up.
In a sentence
"Cop on, will you - the bus doesn't wait for anyone, you know that."
Historical notes
Cop on is one of those Hiberno-English constructions that English speakers from elsewhere catch on context but rarely produce themselves. The noun use is the part outsiders find strange: 'he has no cop on' as a complete sentence means he has no sense, no judgement, no awareness. The imperative 'cop on!' is an instruction to wise up immediately, usually said with weary patience by a parent or a friend who has been listening to a complaint that the speaker thinks the listener could have avoided.
Sources
- Oxford English Dictionary, entry cop v. (to catch, perceive). · dictionary
- Dolan, Terence Patrick. A Dictionary of Hiberno-English. Gill Books. · dictionary