m.o

[lele g]

what does M.O mean?? its sometimes used in CSI when someone kills the same way each time

[Ethel]

Modus operandi.


Method of operation - how it was done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modus_operandi

Example - a burglar gets in through a little tiny window. That is his MO and if further burglaries are carried out by the this method then they may be linked.

[mystifyme]

It's from the Latin 'Modus Operandi' - translated to mode of operation.

It is used in police work to describe a criminal's characteristic patterns and style of work.

[marc2006]

Modus operandi (often used in the abbreviated form MO) is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation." The plural is modi operandi ("modes of operation"). It is used in police work to describe a criminal's characteristic patterns and style of work.

The term is also commonly used in English in a non-criminal sense to describe someone's habits or manner of working, the method of operating or functioning.

A criminal's MO may also be used in offender profiling, where it can also be used to find clues to the perpetrator's psychology.

The method of operation or MO is sometimes confused with a criminal's "signature". While a criminal's MO may change over time, his or her signature will usually stay the same.