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narc

Hi guys! I think this forum is awesome 👁 Smile :)

I was wondering about the meaning of the title of Interpol song "Narc". I understand perfectly the meaning of the lyrics but i can't translate the title. I thought about some kind of 'love addiction', but I am not sure.
Thank-you 👁 Smile :)
It usually means a narcotics officer, an undercover, but I am not sure what it would mean in this song. It can also mean somebody who turns you in to the authorities for doing drugs, or something else. Apparently it can also mean a wretched person, a traitor.
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nark is slang for a police informant and the verb "to nark" is slang for "to annoy/irritate (someone)" but as the title is Narc, I don't think they fit.
I think that 'narc' is only a noun. Nark is both the verb (to annoy) and the noun. At least I don't think the verb 'to narc' exists.
I would agree that we are correct and that narc and nark have different meanings. However, I found that the Urban Dictionary shows that narc is (apparently) used both a noun and a verb. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=narc

I think this is simply confusion between nark and narc caused by the fact that nark/narc are words that are mainly spoken rather than written.
Found this about the song.
This is what Paul (Banks - lead singer) had to say about narc: It's a very typical love and relationships orientated song but with a filter of corruption and manipulation. It's not a healthy depiction of a relationship."
"In the States a narc is an undercover narcotics agent, hence the manipulation - using leverage to say someone's committed a crime. But it utilises that power in a really sleazy, sexual kind of way.
Lyrics sites are created by anonymous fans who make mistakes and don't even bother to check what official material is available.
On the band's website, the track is listed as "NARC" in all caps as if it is an acronym (the names of the other songs are not in all caps). It probably has several meanings as many things in songs do. I checked two of their other songs at random and could see no relationship between the title and the lyrics in either.
Thanks Myridon for the thoroughly checking and explanation! I didn't take notice before that 'NARC' was all caps. Now I am more curious than ever to know (if it is an acronym) the meaning 👁 Smile :)
Just to add my 2 cents.... The correct spelling is indeed "Narc/NARC". It's an abreviation of narcotics. I've never once seen it as "nark".

Furthermore, it is most definitely used to refer to a police officer; not always a narcotics officer.

It gained a bit more of a twist in the 90s (my teens) when we all said it. Narc can also refer to a regular person who is a "snitch" or working with the cops.

Such as "That guy's a Narc; watch what you say around him."

Indeed it can also be used as a verb.

Such as "Don't be a snitch; Don't narc on me!!!"

Bottom line - It's slang. Slang has many uses.
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I've never once seen it as "nark".
Nark is a much older word than narc. From etymonline.com:
nark 1859, "to act as a police informer" (v.); 1860, "police informer" (n.), probably from Romany nak "nose," from Hindi nak, from Skt. nakra, which probably is related to Skt. nasa "nose" (see nose). Sense and spelling tending to merge with unrelated narc (q.v.).
narc (n.) 1967, Amer.Eng. slang, shortened form of narcotics agent (earlier narco). Had been used 1955 for narcotics hospital, 1958 for narcotics addict. Sense and spelling tending to merge with older but unrelated nark (q.v.).
Nark is a much older word than narc. From etymonline.com:

Nark is definitely a word and definitely viable. I've just never once seen someone write it that way, seen a movie use it for it's title, nor seen it in any song that way 👁 Smile :)
You'll just always see it as "narc/Narc/NARC".
'Narc,' strictly speaking, is an abbreviation of 'narcotics officer.'

'Narc' (noun) is fairly commonly used slang on the West Coast (and especially in Southern California) that can be used to describe someone who has informed on another person's negative behavior, with the implication generally being that they profited in some way by doing so. It can also be used as a verb - i.e., "Don't narc on me / narc me out." A roughly synonymous slang phrase would be "sell out" - i.e., "One of the robbers sold out his accomplices in exchange for reduced jail time."
...'Narc' (noun) is fairly commonly used slang on the West Coast (and especially in Southern California) that can be used to describe someone who has informed on another person ...
When used in that sense it should be spelled "nark," though many people who don't know this and are familiar with the other meaning of "narc" assume it's spelled the same way. (In speech, you can't tell the difference.)
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