# Dick = Richard. Is that a generational thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609 "2010-07-30T18:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/1 "2010-07-30T18:17:50Z")
Just wondering as I just interviewed a man who goes by the name Dick, his name is Richard, but he prefers Dick. I’d like to know a couple things about this psuedo-abbreviated name. A) Where does it come from? B) How do you feel about the name in general? C) Is this a generational thing? I do not know anyone, personally, under the age of 60 who goes by this name. Do you? D) Somewhat jokingly - Does the phallic connotation come into mind when addressing someone with this name? \* One of my younger female employees stated that she would have a hard time calling Dick, Dick because she could not get the “other connotation” out of her mind. She was speaking somewhat jokingly, but I suppose she will have to get used to it because he is by far the best candidate to date. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/2 "2010-07-30T18:21:21Z")
I don’t know any younger people that go by “Dick.” My younger brother’s name is Richard and I call him Dick just to annoy him but all the current Dicks I know are of my parents’ generation. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/3 "2010-07-30T18:26:06Z")
Of course it’s a generational thing. Dick was a perfectly acceptable nickname a few decades back: Dick Van Dyke, Dick Clark, Dick Cheney, Dick Tracy. It may make you smirk at first, but you’ll get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/4 "2010-07-30T18:27:41Z")
My neighbor is called Dick (he’s 81). His wife’s best friend’s husband is also called Dick. The wives refer to their spouses as “my Dick” and “your Dick”, or “big Dick” and “little Dick” (one is tall and one is short). My neighbor Dick is an Anglican Bishop, so this always cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/5 "2010-07-30T18:35:35Z")
I have an uncle Richard who goes by Rich or among family only, Dink. Never, never Dick. He is only 2 years older than me, so it is definitely a generational thing. I used to work with a Dick, he was in his 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/6 "2010-07-30T18:56:40Z")
I know a guy that’s in his mid-30s and goes by “Dick” – and has been since high school. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/7 "2010-07-30T19:09:46Z")
My grandpa is a Richard-called-Dick. The youngest Dick I know is in his mid-late 50’s - young enough that the other meaning of the word would have been prevalant when he was growing up. I’m not sure why he chose to go by it instead of one of the other nicknames. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/8 "2010-07-30T19:33:51Z")
I was born in 1957 and have never met any Richard who goes by “Dick” who was born later. All the Richards I’ve met my age or younger have been Richard, Rich, or Rick. ETA: In the 8th grade we would sometimes fill in the roll sheet with “Dick Hertz” and wait for the teacher to ask “Who’s Dick Hertz?” Then 6 guys would all yell, “Not mine!” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/9 "2010-07-30T20:27:05Z")
Amazing. When I was growing up “Dick” was the standard nickname for “Richard”, just like “Robert” and “Bob”. I hadn’t noticed but I guess that has gone away. On the other hand “dick” had the same meaning it currently has. But we never make any connection between them. Just like you didn’t make any assumption that Mr. Miller was in the business of grinding seed into meal. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/10 "2010-07-30T20:46:27Z")
I have the same problem with Peter. My name is Ellen and I have a Peter Problem. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/11 "2010-07-30T23:47:34Z")
I know a bunch of Richards that are Rick but not Dick. The meaning changed. Kind of like in the 70s when John became a popular name for bathroom or toilet ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/12 "2010-07-31T03:08:21Z")
I know nobody with the name Richard that goes by Dick, unless they are significantly older than me (49 yrs old). I had a business associate who went by “Dyke” whose name given Richard. He would be about 65 now. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/13 "2010-07-31T03:23:19Z")
The nickname has, of course, vanished due to the phallic connotations. It wasn’t that “dick” as “penis” was new – the OED dates it from 1891, and since it’s a sexual term, that means it probably was used for some time before that. But people _thought_ differently. The connection wasn’t made because “dick = penis” was not a word you used in public. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/14 "2010-07-31T12:20:49Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I know a bunch of Richards that are Rick but not Dick. > > The meaning changed. Kind of like in the 70s when John became a popular name for bathroom or toilet The 70s? Been popular much longer than that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/15 "2010-07-31T14:56:03Z")
Another vote for Dick-as-Richard ending in with folks born in the '50s. There were a few kids around my age named Richard, but almost none went by Dick. The youngest Dick I can recall from then would be about 55 now. And the youngest Dick I know now or have heard of recently would also be about 55. Without looking it up, I’d bet that Richard itself was pretty out of style from, say, 1955 to 1975and has since made a come back. But nobody from this later set of Richards is using the Dick nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/16 "2010-07-31T15:59:35Z")
You never hear anyone now say they had a gay old time like they did in the Flintstones song. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/17 "2010-07-31T16:10:58Z")
I’ve always wondered why Richards would choose to be called Dick, but they often do. My maternal grandfather was one such Richard. He was known as Dick his whole life. Born in 1907, but surely they had “dick” as penis slang back in the early part of the century. However, I did have a classmate who went by Dickie, and that was in the 1960s or 1970s. Maybe early 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/18 "2010-07-31T16:12:19Z")
Or that they made a boner (mistake). ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/19 "2010-07-31T16:15:58Z")
My name is Richard and I’ve had people call me Dick as a joke. I’ll probably laugh politely if I’m in a good mood, and tell them that I won’t respond to “Dick”. And I don’t. I don’t like any of the shortened forms of Richard, and when I meet new people they assume for some reason I must prefer a short form like Rich, Rick, Ricky… nah. You can call me Richard, because it’s like, my name. I’m 20, and I don’t know anyone my age with the name Richard let alone any that go by Dick. My father’s name is Richard and he’s the same as me, no shortened forms, no nicknames, and certainly no Dick. He’s in his late fifties. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/20 "2010-07-31T16:25:28Z")
I went to school with a guy named \*Richard Rash and he _never ever_ shortened his name to Dick. We did though. I also went to school with a Richard Diamond - who of course was known as ‘Diamond Dick’ though for reasons I could never fathom. - _Why do parents do these things?_ It never occurred to them that Dick Rash could be a reality? Or was their home a house of stand-up comedy? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609.md?page=2)