Fugitive
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226004505
2008-07-16T12:07:33Z
Jonathan Cardy
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typo and link
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A '''fugitive''' is a person who is fleeing from [[custody]], whether it be from private [[slavery]], a government [[arrest]], government or non-government [[interrogation|questioning]], [[vigilante]] violence, or outraged private individuals. As a verbal metaphor and psychological concept, one might also be described as a "fugitive from oneself." Finally, the literary sense of "fugitive" includes the meaning of simply "fleeting."
[[Interpol]] is the international authority for the pursuit of trans-border fugitives. In the [[United States]], the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals Service]] is the primary [[law enforcement agency]] that tracks down federal fugitives, though the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] also tracks fugitives.
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For what may be considered obvious reasons, fugitives generally avoid contact with individuals from their home country. However, they might spend much time on the [[Internet]] to fulfill the basic daily need for conversation, especially if they are unable to communicate well with the people in their new country. -->
=="On the lam"==
"On the lam" or "on the run" often refers to fugitives. "[[Lam]]" means "thrash" or "beat soundly," from the Icelandic, "lemja". The imagery is that one beats the path with one's feet while fleeing quickly.
[[Mencken]]'s ''[[The American Language]]'' and ''The Thesaurus of American Slang'' proclaim that lam, lammister, and "on the lam" — all referring to a hasty departure — were common in thieves' slang before the [[turn of the century|turn of]] the [[Twentieth Century]]. Mencken quotes a newspaper report on the origin of 'lam' which actually traces it indirectly back to Shakespeare's time.
{{cquote|Its origin should be obvious to anyone who runs over several colloquial phrases for leavetaking, such as 'beat it' and 'hit the trail'. The allusion in 'lam' is to 'beat,' and 'beat it' is Old English, meaning 'to leave.' During the period of George Ade's 'Fables in Slang' (1900), cabaret society delight in talking slang, and 'lam' was current. Like many other terms, it went under in the flood of new usages of those days, but was preserved in criminal slang. A quarter of a century later it reappeared.}}
The Sage of Baltimore also quotes a story from the ''New York Herald Tribune'' in 1938 which reported that "one of the oldest [[NYPD|police officers]] in New York said that he had heard "on the lam" thirty years ago."
==References==
The phrase "on the lam" is used in the popular Broadway Musical "[[Wicked (musical)|Wicked]]", where the Palace Guards and the fugitive, Elphaba meet during a palace ball. During this scene, one guard remarks: "There's a goat on the lam, sir!" This refers to the arrested talking Goat which is on the loose in the Wizard's palace during the scene. The statement is a [[pun]], "on the lam" meaning on the run, and "lam" also joking at the similarity between a lamb and a goat.
A similar use of the term was seen in a [[Simpsons]] episode. Abe Simpson remarks "Call me mint jelly, 'cause I'm on the lam!" as he runs away.
==See also==
{{wiktionarypar|fugitive}}
* [[United States Marshals Service]]
* [[Bounty hunter]]
* [[Outlaws]]
* [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]]
==External links==
*[http://capture.fugitives.googlepages.com/home Report a Tip] Capturing America's Fugitives
*[http://www.amw.com AMW.com] America's Most Wanted
[[Category:Crime]]
[[Category:Law enforcement terminology]]
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