Mopery

Mopery is a vague and obscure legal term, used in certain jurisdictions to mean "walking down the street with no clear destination or purpose". Like loitering and vagrancy laws, it can be used by law enforcement either to legitimately detain unsavory types before they have committed a clearer or more dangerous crime, or to illegitimately harass otherwise lawful citizens — obviously an easily abused and easily challenged judgment call.

The word is based on verb "to mope," which originally meant "to wander aimlessly"; it only later acquired the overtones of "bored and depressed." The word "mope" appears to have first been used in the 16th century, and appears in Shakespeare's works. "Mopery" has also been used by Thomas Pynchon among others, for whom it is usually a comic accent.

The film Revenge of the Nerds defined the word incorrectly as "exposing oneself to a blind person."

References

• The Word Detective