DCHP-3

green hornet

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)

Spelling variants:
Green Hornet

n. — slang, Southern Ontario, Automotive

a parking enforcement officer.

Type: 1. Origin — The term seems to have originated in Toronto and spread to other cities in Ontario (e.g. Kingston, Ottawa). It was inspired by the parking officers' green vests and noisy motorcycles (see the 1965 quotation). In most cases, the term is used in reference to Toronto. See also COD-2, which labels the meaning "Cdn slang", restricted to Toronto and Ottawa.

Quotations

1965
Officially known as bylaw enforcement officers, the green hornets patrol the city [Toronto] on motorcycle or on foot tagging illegally parked cars. . . . The bylaw enforcement officers, first hired in 1964, received their nickname because of their green uniforms and the noise of their motorcycles.
1974
Cliff Gorsline, supervisor of the officers -- commonly known as green hornets -- who enforce parking regulations, says tickets are a courtesy.
1976
OTTAWA -- The Green Hornets are stinging the capital's diplomats as never before and the diplomats are buzzing back.
1979
Obviously it would be better to raise the complement of the Green Hornets to a more practical level and put them to work on the streets of the city.
1985
As Toronto drivers know, most parking tickets now are given out by Green Hornets, not police officers.
1990
As for enforcement - carried out by the Metropolitan Toronto Police (who run the Green Hornets, the parking control officers) - Mr. Levine called it a joke.
1997
A brilliantly honest story by West-Indian-Canadian Austin Clarke [...] recounts an altercation in various dialects between an East Indian "green hornet'' and the black man he tries to ticket in downtown Toronto.
2001
The future borough's yellow version of green hornets also write parking tickets but they're not empowered to do traffic violations or speeding tickets.
2004
The first time the Monday green hornet was subjected to me, [...] panicking as I begged him not to ticket me, he, in a supreme effort of good will (and possibly out of a desire to get me off the street), made a mental note of my address and vehicle and now leaves my car alone on Mondays.
2014
2. The Green Hornet : If you live in a major city such as Toronto or New York, you are locked into a symbiotic relationship with Green Hornets, a.k.a. meter maids, that could be compared to the one that the bloodsucking lamprey eel enjoys with the salmon of the Great Lakes - and you play the role of the salmon. Toronto issues more than 2.6 million parking tickets per year. Pay up, sucker!

References

  • COD-2