Expanding Lexicon

Expanding Lexicon

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Episode 8

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The Third Degree

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Welcome to Expanding Lexicon the story behind the things we say. Today’s episode is about an idiom.

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What is today’s topic? Giving someone the third degree. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the third degree as “Severe questioning of someone to find out as much as you can (Cambridge)” Example I gave the mechanic the third degree before I let him make any repairs.

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There are several possibilities for how we came to today’s definition of the third degree. The act of classifying things in natural philosophy (12 misunderstood) by degree was commonly used as early as the middle ages. A 1578 translation of “The History of Plants” has the following description "Rue is hoate and dry in the thirde degree (Martin)." In the Twelfth Night Shakespeare refers to someone as “in the third degree of drink” in these examples the third degree is used to describe the penultimate level of intensity (12 misunderstood).

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Another possible origin for the third degree can be traced back to the Spanish inquisition where torture was ranked by degree. “First, being threatened to be tortured. Secondly, being carried to the place of torture. Thirdly, by stripping and binding. Fourthly, the being hoisted up on the rack. Fifthly, squassation (Swain). The third degree in this instance is further described as " a war of nerves on the victim, followed many times by brute force at the end of a truncheon, by deliberate starvation, a deprivation of drink, exercise, sleep and amenities to perform the natural functions (Henri)”

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Another possible origin traces back to the three degrees of membership in Masonic Lodges. The first being apprentice, the second Fellowcraft and the third Master Mason (Martin). While the Masons are a semisecret organization it is understood that at least historically before achieving the title of third degree the member undergoes vigorous interrogation style questioning (Bloomsbury). This may be the link to the third degree being used to describe police interrogations.

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In 1910 President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police described the origin of the Third degree as coming from the American criminal justice system with the first degree being the arrest, the second degree the transport to a place of confinement and the third degree being the interrogation (Skolnick).

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No matter the origins of the third degree in reference to brutal interrogation the idiom was in common use by the turn of the 20th century. A 1900 edition of Everyday magazine used the third degree to describe an extra brutal police interrogation in the following way "From time to time a prisoner... claims to have had the Third Degree administered to him (Martin).

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In 1930 the Bar Association’s Committee on the Lawless Enforcement of the Law reported “We can only say that the ’third degree’ in the sense of rigid and severe examination of men under arrest by police officers… is in use almost everywhere if not everywhere in the united states (Skolnick).

The third degree was given a legal definition in 1931 by the Wickersham Commission appointed by President  Herbert Hoover they described the third degree as “the inflicting of pain, physical or mental to extract confessions or statements.” They further described the third degree as “protracted questioning… with relays of examiners badgering the suspect until his energies were depleted and his resistance overcome. Prisoners who held out too long would eventually experience physical torture (Skolnick).”

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Over the next 2 decades the legal system saw a variety of changes. Police were forced by legal decisions to change their tactics in extracting confessions. Overtime the Supreme Court heard cases like Miranda Vs. Arizona which protected suspects from coerced confessions but this only stopped the physical torture to extract confessions. It wasn’t until 1959 and Spano Vs. New York that psychological coercion and tricked confessions were considered police brutality and the new third degree (Skolnick). This shifted the definition of the third degree in the public lexicon. It changed from physical torture at the hands of the police, to unending, rigorous questioning.

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This third degree interrogation was often characterized by a bright light in the eyes of the suspect, harsh police questioning, slapping the table, yelling, and good cop bad cop. This was dramatized for public consumption in movies like Laura released in 1944. Overtime the idiom has gotten a lighter tone as forceful sometimes violent police questioning recedes into public memory. While this form of questioning is sometimes seen in movies like the 2014 Lego Movie it is now considered over the top and for humorous effect not because it is based on how interrogations really occur (disappearing idioms)

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In fact the third degree is evolving to be used in a lighthearted tone (12 Misunderstood). The definition of the idiom from Bloomsbury clearly shows this progression in their example sentences. First “It was clearly a case of mistaken identity, but the police still gave him the third degree.” This police reference is an older use of the idiom. Second “Careful, if you don’t hand in the report on time you’ll get the third degree” This moves away from the police but continues to refer to unwanted questioning. Third “When I got home last night my mum gave me the third degree” This is a more lighthearted and contemporary example. While it still references a questioning it’s spoken in a more jovial nature probably to a friend more a blithe complaint about being caught getting home after hours.

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The origins for the third degree are murky and possibly come from medieval natural philosophy, the Spanish inquisition, Free Masons or the American legal system. This is an idiom that has changed significantly in its use over the past century from describing police torture moving toward rigorous interrogation at the hands of the police to severe unwanted questioning further evolving to a contemporary and now more lighthearted way to describe a questioning.  This is one idiom that has a surprising history that continues to evolve today.

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Works Cited

“12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions.” Daily Writing Tips, www.dailywritingtips.com/12-misunderstood-and-misquoted-shakespearean-expressions/.

Bloomsbury International (UK) Ltd.” Quality English School in Central London - Bloomsbuty International, www.bloomsbury-international.com/en/student-ezone/idiom-of-the-week/list-of-idioms/1637-give-someone-the-third-degree/.

Henri, Edwin J. Methods of Torture and Execution. Walton P., 1966.

Martin, Gary. “'The Third Degree' - the Meaning and Origin of This Phrase.” Phrasefinder, www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/372300.html.

Skolnick, Jerome H., and James J. Fyfe. Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force. Free Press, 1994

Swain, John. The Pleasures of the Torture Chamber. Dorset Press, 1995.

“THE THIRD DEGREE .” Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary , Cambridge University Press, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/third-degree.