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Glite Dictionary
to cop oneself on

to cop oneself on

9.9
To realize you made a mistake and begin to act more sensibly
  • phrasal verb
  • Irish
translation icon : darse cuenta
  • It took failing the exam for him to cop himself on and start studying seriously.

Examples

  • You really need to cop yourself on if you want to keep your job.

  • After the meeting, she finally copped herself on and apologized to her team.

  • You need to cop yourself on!

  • Has he finally copped himself on?

  • After the meeting, she finally copped herself on and apologized to her team, realizing her mistakes.

  • It took failing the exam for him to cop himself on and start studying seriously, understanding the importance of his education.

  • You really need to cop yourself on if you want to keep your job and behave more responsibly at work.

Synonyms

to cop yourself on
vsto cop oneself on
  • Irish
9.9

Start behaving more responsibly

has the same meaning but uses an impersonal or general form
to cop on
vsto cop oneself on
  • UK
9.9

Begin to understand something you missed before

also leads to behaving more sensibly after the initial realization

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Sensible

to get one's act together
  • Informal
32 4.6
to shape up
  • Informal
11 4.0
to cop oneself on
  • Irish
9.9
to wise up
  • Informal
16 7.1
to realize
  • US
∞ 1.1

Surface Forms

cop oneself on infinitive
copped oneself on past
copped oneself on past participle
copping oneself on present participle
cops oneself on third person singular

Morphology

cop + oneself + on

This is an informal, chiefly Irish idiom whose central verb 'cop' does not transparently carry the sense ‘realize’ or ‘wise up’ from its more common meanings (e.g., policeman, to take). The reflexive 'oneself' and particle 'on' do not make the intended sense predictable for a B1 learner, so the overall meaning cannot be derived compositionally and is dialectal/idiomatic.

Etymology

Cop oneself on may come from cop meaning 'to grab' and on meaning 'to switch on' your attention, so imagine someone grabbing themselves to wake up and pay attention. So cop oneself on means 'to realize a mistake' and start behaving more sensibly.