good-cop-bad-cop

good-cop-bad-cop (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of good cop bad cop.
   • 1992, Georgia Helm, Mad Hatter, Kismet, →ISBN:

     When he and his partner play good-cop-bad-cop, I bet I know who plays bad-cop.

   • 1993, Gayle Peters, Taken!, Bitingduck Press LLC, →ISBN, page 108:

     They played "good-cop-bad-cop", they skipped questions and repeated questions, they went over the same ground three and four times, they pointed out natural causes for things he had witnessed, they asked what his real motives were to get his adrenalin pumping, they called him "imaginative", and calmed him down when he took offense, and at the end of two hours both they and Prophet were exhausted.

   • 1998, Kelly Jamison, The Bride Was a Rental, Harlequin Books, →ISBN:

     He played good-cop-bad-cop all by himself. First he was tender and considerate, worrying that she might have cut her hand, and the next instant he was berating her for a supposedly faulty memory where her own marriage was concerned.

   • 1999, Latin Style:

     You just have to be really strong and if the actor starts to bitch, you say, ‘Okay’ and you play good-cop-bad-cop, and you bring in the other head producer.

   • 1999, The New York Times Biographical Service:

     He singlehandedly played good-cop-bad-cop, refusing to budge while expressing sympathy for their plight.

   • 2001, Teri Holbrook, The Mother Tongue, Crimeline, →ISBN:

     Truitt could tell by reading his deputy’s body language that if they were to play good-cop-bad-cop, he would have to take the role of the good cop himself.

   • 2005, Patrick Astre, The Artifact, Salvo Press, →ISBN, page 36:

     Francis never interfered when Lillian got a head of steam. They had unconsciously developed their own unique version of good-cop-bad-cop, and it worked very well.

   • 2008, William E. Merritt, A Fool’s Gold, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 22:

     For a good cop, she was pretty convincing, as well. Funny how that worked. I knew they were playing it for my benefit. For all I could tell, in real life she was a brass-plated bitch and Rocco spent his weekends delivering baskets of gumdrops to orphans. But knowing they were playing good-cop-bad-cop didn’t make me feel any better.

   • 2009, Archer Mayor, The Price of Malice: A Joe Gunther Novel, Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 301:

     Cathy and I were thinking of playing good-cop-bad-cop on him, hoping two women in the same room will mess him up.

   • 2013 03, James A. Costa, Jr., A Portal in Time: A Novel, CCB Publishing, →ISBN, page 37:

     Gary wondered if they were playing good-cop-bad-cop as they led him to the curb and helped him into the back seat of the police car.

   • 2020, Loretta C. Rogers, Christmas at Hope Ranch, The Wild Rose Press Inc, →ISBN:

     He played good-cop-bad-cop with himself. The good cop wanted to believe that Addison had returned for rest and relaxation, to recuperate from the fall.