交警 jiāojǐng traffic police (short for 交通警察)
How to remember 交警: 交 hand over + 警 guard = traffic police (short for 交通警察).
Characters
How it is used
- 交警 (jiāojǐng) is the everyday abbreviation for 交通警察 (jiāotōng jǐngchá) - traffic police - the officers who direct traffic and issue tickets.
- It's used constantly in spoken and written Chinese in place of the full four-character term, much like '交警' signs at intersections.
- Don't confuse with 警察 (jǐngchá) alone, the general word for police; 交警 specifically refers to the traffic branch.