Brewer's: Raw Lobster

(A). A policeman. Lobsters before they are boiled are a dark blue. A soldier dressed in scarlet is a lobster; a policeman, or sort of soldier, dressed in dark blue is a raw lobster. The name was given to the new force by the Weekly Dispatch newspaper, which tried to write it down.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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