Sloop

@Comet It’s more of stretched out utterance. I do it when I make a “dumb” mistake like cutting something too short. Maybe it would have been more recognizable pre ”doh” Simpsons.

@sotto voce I loved my 96 Jetta too, it had the road feel of a BMW. Thinking about your story do you remember if the motor officer was wearing jodhpurs? Yes folks this once was common for motorcycle cops; maybe some still wear them. I think they now call them breeches though.

I think the constructor hit the mark, misdirection was good. It is ultimately not about making a speaker (as orator) an amplifier. To turn it up to eleven; sure it’s about that housed product that could be on a stage that is also a sound emitting device. You know music amps and combo amps are just called amps in everyday use. In consumer electronics that wouldn't be the case, amplified speakers would generally not be referred to as amps. In another case a similar but unamplified clue arrangement could be validly devised for "monitor" and "speaker on a stage”, I don’t know what kind of feedback that would get.

@Josh The old term “beat the rap” is to get off or be found not guilty of a crime. That could be difficult in many cases .