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Why does the law use the word "Grand" when describing Grand Theft Auto. It's almost like they're glorifying it. Is there a lesser type of theft auto?

foreyez
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    Because the only answer so far doesn't make this clear, the series was named after the existing phrase grand theft, (of the) auto (variety). "Grand theft, auto" is a phrase police would have been familiar with long before the first GTA game came out. – user428517 Jan 16 '18 at 22:31
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    @sgroves I don't think the question has anything to do with the video game. – user2752467 Jan 16 '18 at 22:36
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    @JustinLardinois Given the capitalisation, I'm not so sure. – Mast Jan 17 '18 at 09:19
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    Your question reminds me of the closing lyric from Guns N' Roses' Civil War: "What's so civil 'bout war anyway?" :) – Deepak Jan 17 '18 at 12:57
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    Because Taking Without Owners Consent (TWOCking - the UK version of GTA) doesn't sell nearly as many games. – Darren Bartrup-Cook Jan 17 '18 at 16:00
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    TWOC is not the UK version of grand theft auto, but a lesser crime. Theft requires intent to permanently deprive the owner of the object in question. TWOC is called various things in different US states (e.g. "taking a motor vehicle without permission" in Washington, "unauthorized taking of a vehicle" in California.) – Robert Furber Jan 17 '18 at 22:28
  • There's also grand larceny, gross misdemeanor, and a bunch of similarly-titles offences; not just 'grand'. – flith Jan 18 '18 at 12:40

1 Answers1

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Grand theft, a term which is used in some jurisdictions, is "big theft". It is defined in California in terms of what and how much you steal, for instance "over $950" except over $250 for domestic fowl (and other things). It also includes any auto theft. Otherwise, it is known as petty theft ("small theft": the terms derive from French and sometimes spelled "petit"). On the other hand, Washington state does not use those terms, instead they have 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree theft, as well as theft of motor vehicle, two degrees of taking of motor vehicle, and so on.

user6726
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    I never realized until just now that "petty" was the anglicization of "petit", as in "petty theft". – Michael Seifert Jan 16 '18 at 21:16
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    Similarly, a "grand" jury is so named because it's larger than a trial jury. – Michael Seifert Jan 16 '18 at 21:18
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    no mention of grand larceny? it's the same reason, after all – cat Jan 16 '18 at 22:36
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    So then I guess one can answer the OP's question with: If you steal a lemon, it might not be expensive enough to trip the "grand theft" clause in your jurisdiction, so you'd have to get charged with "petty theft auto?" – Cort Ammon Jan 16 '18 at 22:41
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    In CA, a $5 car triggers GTA; in Washington, we don't have "grand theft". I'm not aware of any state where the value of an auto is relevant to defining the crime, but there could be one. – user6726 Jan 16 '18 at 22:48
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    @user6726 In CO we have a unified theft statute and the value of the auto is the only thing relevant to defining the grade of the crime. The fact that it is an auto is irrelevant. – ohwilleke Jan 17 '18 at 03:17
  • @ohwilleke, on the other hand, Indiana defines (or at least, defined) auto theft as its own distinct thing: when researching a hypothetical situation involving taking someone's vehicle without permission, it took me nearly an hour of searching through statutes and cross-referencing judicial opinions to establish that a crime had been committed (and then several hours more to figure out that the subsequent crash didn't trigger any "felony murder" provisions). – Mark Jan 17 '18 at 08:18
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    @CortAmmon From the comments, the qualifier in "Grand theft, auto" is more about what's being stolen than the size. So it's not "_Grand theft, auto" vs. "Petty theft, auto" but more vs. "Grand theft, plasma TV". – TripeHound Jan 17 '18 at 09:48
  • @MichaelSeifert similarly, the US Navy has "Petty Officer" ranks. They are essentially equivalent to NCO ranks in the Army (Corporals and Sergeants). Petty Officers are officers (they have command authority) but do not hold commissions from the POTUS and rank below commissioned officers. – Robert Columbia Jan 17 '18 at 14:41
  • @TripeHound right, it's one of those "set phrases" that have come into existence based partially on police procedure and partially on statutes that exist in some jurisdictions. You could come up with your own "petty theft light bulb", good luck getting anyone to use it. – Robert Columbia Jan 17 '18 at 14:48
  • In French "grand" (big) is also used in "grand banditisme" (big-scale banditry, such as big bank robbery with heavy weapons) – Nicolas Raoul Jan 18 '18 at 07:09
  • @MichaelSeifert similarly, trial juries are sometimes called petty juries, although it seems to be more commonly spelled petit. – phoog Jan 18 '18 at 07:25
  • At common law, grand larceny was a felony and at one time that meant that it was a capital offence; whereas petty larceny was not. – Francis Davey Jan 03 '24 at 01:08