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HWDP or ChWDP (read ha-voo-de-pe) is a frequently used acronym of a Polish vulgar phrase chuj w dupę policji, meaning literally fuck the police in the ass. The HWDP form is sometimes incorrectly rendered as hak w dupę policji, which literally means hook into the ass of police, in order to hide, what is commonly known to be a spelling mistake - the letter H instead of Ch, however, it was proven by the Polish PWN dictionary, that both the forms chuj and huj are grammatically correct, thus, the form HWDP is grammatically correct as well, and stands for huj w dupę policji. It's the most famous Polish vulgar phrase, and it's very famous outside Poland as well.

It can be best compared to the English-language phrase ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards), known in western English-language countries, painted on walls by aggressive football fans already in the '60's of the 20th century. It is also commonly used as a tattoo among some of the Latino prisoners in the United States of America, who also expand it as Always Carry A Bible, when asked to expand it by a member of the authorities. Another English counterpart of this Polish vulgar phrase is FTP, an acronym of the phrase fuck the police (it has nothing do to with the official FTP acronym, which means File Transfer Protocol).

This vulgar slogan, often written on walls, is used by a part of the youth as a form of provocation against the police, but also one of its "trademarks". Writing of the HWDP characters, visible from far, is a de facto form of aggressive vandalism, which reasonably lowers the value of the flats near the marked objects. The habit of using the HWDP slogan is particularly popular amongst aggressive football fans, called kibole (some kind of Polish hooligans, that are a part of the dres sub-culture) of the beginning of the 21st century. The acronym appeared for good in texts of the Hip-Hop music as well. It is a specific expression of protest against the authorities and the entire surrounding system, although it isn't an ideological rebellion, but instead, a characteristic sign of the additude to the surrounding reality.

Origins

There are a few theories about the origins of this slogan. One of them has it that the slogan was invented by the rapper WWDZ (Wilku) on Molesta (the album was released at some time in 1999). Wilku is associated with the hip-hop/hooligan world and fans of football team Legia Warszawa.

However, it is not possible to prove that Wilku came up with the slogan by himself, or just took it into his song from the language of the street. Nonetheless, his is the first song with the HWDP slogan. There was once a program on the Polish television TVP 3 about Hip-Hop, and one of its episodes was dedicated to this slogan. There was even a part about the aforementioned rapper, and the theory that the HWDP slogan was thought up by him was born there.

Some scholars claim, that the slogan originated from the Polish hip-hop culture, pointing at Wilku WDZ, and his group, Molesta, as being the first users of the slogan. However, critics point at the fact, that the slogan was popular, and popularly painted on walls in Poland, a considerable amount of time Wilku first used it, and that Wilku was merely the first to use the slogan in a Polish hip-hop song.

It must, however, be noted that the HWDP acronym has origins in the license plates of the Polish Police vehicles, which always start with the letter H and are four letters long. There's even a Polish military car which has a license plate of HWD P.

Popularity

The slogan is already very important in Poland, and its popularity is spreading to other countries as well, most notably Slovakia and Germany. The popularity of this slogan is noticeable in several ways.

Alternate expansions

One of the ways in which the popularity of the acronym is easily noticed, is that it got many alternative expansions, some of which are listed in the table below.

There's also a site, dedicated to collecting all the various expansions of the CHWDP, and HWDP, acronyms.

Some of the alternate expansions even make sense, like the expansion "Chowaj wódkę/wino do plecaka" (Hide the vodka/wine in the backpack). In Poland, drinking alcohol in public places (parks, streets etc.) is illegal and anyone doing it may be fined. So, hiding vodka in your backpack is a rational reaction when you see police around.

But the basic meaning is generally known to all interested persons, but others are only word plays, used sometimes to avoid awkward situations and to relieve the tension, e.g. when persons who propagate this abbreviation talk with the police or by the policemen who want to avoid embarrassment when they are asked about expanding the abbreviation in interviews.

Spread on the Internet

However, the popularity of this acronym is not limited to it being spraypainted on the walls in Poland. In fact, the acronym has also spread among the Internet users, both Polish and foreign. There have been interesting findings regarding this acronym of the Internet. Among them, is a photo of a car in Poland with the letters CHWDP on its license plate (the entire license plate reads W0 CHWDP), and it was not the only vehicle with the letters of either form of this acronym in its license plate, either.

This acronym is also being increasingly mentioned on German-language websites, such as The 3-D Center German Forum, and there are even items with this acronym on the German eBay.

Czech Republic and Slovakia

The slogan is also popular in Czech Republic, where it is written as ČDPP, standing for Čůrák do prdele policie, meaning the same, as the Polish Chuj w dupę policji, that is, Fuck the police in the ass. However, its Polish counterparts, CHWDP and HWDP, are just as common in Czech Republic as well.

The slogan can be found in Slovakia as well.

HWDP and the law

The slogan is usually ignored by police. Once, the police used it even in their campaign against the crime, where the last four letters of the acronym meant Hamujemy Wszelkie Działania Przestępcze, meaning We Inhibit All the Criminal Actions.

Using the HWDP acronym this way, just like different vulgarisms, is regulated not only by social, but also by legal norms. In Poland, according to article 141 of the Penal Code:

"Whoever puts obscene inscriptions, pictures in public places, or uses obscene words, is subject to a fine up to 1500 zlotys."

Accidents sometime happen, when police officers write out fines for people with the HWDP (or ChWDP) inscription on their sweatshirts, because sometimes, they're foreign sweatshirts, thus having the HWDP acronym there meaning something else, and not the expected Polish vulgar phrase.

However, the fact, that the acronym HWDP, or ChWDP, can be expanded in a variety of manners, including pro-police ones, and that it was even used by the Polish police for a time, makes the use of its abbreviation in Poland technically legal, since its meaning depends on the concrete expansion of it. The full slogan, however, is indeed illegal.

The fine case

A notable incident was, when a young man wearing a HWDP T-shirt was fined. However, it was later revealed by police that the man, part of a group of four young men from Mikołow, was fined, because his alcohol test showed he had 1.14 promile of alcohol in his blood (which is over the limit allowed in Poland), n othing to do with the fact that he was wearing a HWDP T-shirt, at all. The man said he didn't have time to sit around in jail, so he had no problems with getting the fine. The fact occurred in 2004.

The shooting case

Yet another well-known case was, when in Przasnysz, a policeman of the Żandarmeria Wojskowa, the Polish Military Gendarmerie, shot an aggressive man (a certain Mirosław S.) with such an inscription on the T-shirt. According to the police, the shot man was known to have been problematic, though this is still being disputed.

It is now also being disputed, that the reason, why the man was shot, might have nothing to do with the fact, that he was wearing a HWDP T-shirt, at all.

Memetics

HWDP is also an allele of a meme, which in memetics, is a variant feature related to the meme.

See also

• ACAB

Notes

1. HWDP - Miejski słownik slangu i mowy potocznej Slang młodzieżowy
2. hak w dupe policji - Szukaj w Google
3. The PWN dictionary - Poradnia językowa
4. Pięć Dwa Dębiec – Policyjne
5. www.HWDP.info - Strona rozrywkowa - Synonimy CHWDP i HWDP.
6. ^ Małgorzata (20 października 2004). "Litery niewinne". Nowiny. Retrieved 2009-06-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |nazwisko= ignored (|last= suggested) (help)
7. ^ "Policja wyjaśnia, co znaczy HWDP". TVN24. 31 sierpnia 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. - CHWDP - Pesquisa do Google
9. "hwdp - Tagi Patrz.pl" on the Polish Tags website Patrz.pl
10. A "New Sports Motives" item on the German eBay, with a CHWDP item among them
11. - CHWDP - Vyhledat Googlem
12. - CHWDP - Hľadať v Google
13. "HWDP - Samochod o takiej rejestracji jezdzi w Kazimierzu n/W.. Ostatnio jak byłem ... - Arbiter.pl" ("HWDP - A car with such a license plate (meaning one with the HWDP inscription) rides in Kazimierz...") article on arbiter.pl
14. - Kodeks wykroczeń - LEX.jasinski.pl / Polish Penal Code
15. "Czy policja powinna karać za przekleństwa? Za wulgaryzmy można ..."
16. "Żandarm zastrzelił mieszkańca Przasnysza" ("A military policemen shot an inhabitant of Przasnysz") article on gazeta.pl 2003-06-08

• Profanity
• Graffiti and unauthorised signage
• Law enforcement in Poland
• Polish society
• Youth culture