[Vocabulary] I have to police myself.

[beachboy]

1) I always have to police/monitor myself so as not to say anything offensive.
2) I always have to keep myself in check so as not to say anything offensive.
3) I always have to police/monitor my hair so that it doesn't look messed up.
4) I always have to keep my hair in check so that it doesn't look messed up.

I've come up with the sentences above. Are all of them used correctly? Is there any difference between to police, to monitor and to keep in check? Which one is more common in everyday English? Is there another verb or idiom that is more commonly used?

 

[jutfrank]

Don't use police for any of these. Certainly not for your hair. I don't like monitor, either.

keep in check is good for both of them.

 

[emsr2d2]

To police something, you have to make sure it is following a set of legal (or moral) guidelines. Your hair does not have to follow any such formal rules!

They've put up "No littering" signs all over the park but who's going to police it?
A private security firm has been brought in to police ticket sales and guard against touts.
You can't police the internet.

Scroll down to the listings for the verb HERE for the main definitions. I should point out I have never seen it used as definition 4 in that section.

 

[tedmc]

With speech, you can say: I always try to be prudent so as not to say anything offensive.
With your hair, you can say: I always pay attention to my hair so that it doesn't appear messy.

 

[emsr2d2]

I find "I always pay attention to my hair" unnatural. I would just use "I always make sure my hair looks good/neat" or "I always make sure my hair's not a mess".

 

[Tdol]

Probably the only place in the world where hair is placed is North Korea, where there is a legal list of approved hairstyles.

 

[tzfujimino]

Probably the only place in the world where hair is policed is ...

I've found a typo.
(Please delete this post after the typo has been corrected.)

 

[GoesStation]

Scroll down to the listings for the verb HERE for the main definitions. I should point out I have never seen it used as definition 4 in that section.

We often use it that way in the informal phrasal verb police up in my region. For example, when I finished assembling the new snow blade for my electric riding lawn mower Wednesday night, I policed up the garage; I put away the many tools I'd used, put the sawhorse that I'd used as a table away, and then — well, I should have swept the floor, but I was exhausted and left it unswept. I had an excuse: I had to get up at 4:30 AM Thursday morning to catch a plane.

 

[Tarheel]

I just learned a new phrasal verb: police up. (Apparently, it's a regionalism.)

 

[GoesStation]

I just learned a new phrasal verb: police up. (Apparently, it's a regionalism.)

It may also be a "classism": a word used by members of a particular social class; in this case, working class.

 

[beachboy]

What about the phrasal verb to check on somebody/something? Would these sentences convey the same idea?

1) I always have to check on myself so as not to say anything offensive.
2) I always have to check on my hair so that it doesn't look messed up.

 

[Matthew Wai]

1. I am always careful not to say anything offensive.
2. I often check that my hair is neat.

 

[Tdol]

What about the phrasal verb to check on somebody/something? Would these sentences convey the same idea?

1) I always have to check on myself so as not to say anything offensive.
2) I always have to check on my hair so that it doesn't look messed up.

They're not wrong, but not much more than that.