# 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:** 2
**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, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/21 "2010-07-31T16:30:04Z")
Aside from all that, it seems that [Dex knows the answer](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2030/what-came-first-dick-or-dick) ---
**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, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/22 "2010-07-31T16:57:25Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Aside from all that, it seems that [Dex knows the answer](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2030/what-came-first-dick-or-dick) That article says: **“The use of ‘dick’ as coarse slang for penis first arises around 1890.”** My grandfather, who as I said was born in 1907, was born and raised in rural Arkansas. The slang meaning could conceivably have taken longer to penetrate there. (Pun intended. :D) ---
**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, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/23 "2010-07-31T17:03:15Z")
Saying that it “_could conceivably have taken longer to penetrate (Arkansas)_” is something I’m not sure would stand up in court, **Siam Sam** and you could be ejacu…I mean ejected. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/24 "2010-07-31T19:29:17Z")
Well, we seem to have plenty of showing for “dick” being used as slang for penis going back pretty far, but I’m not sure that’s relevant. Today (going back how far?) we casually toss about the word, and it’s not just in referring to someone as a penis. I’m not sure when I first started hearing “don’t be a dick” all the time, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t everyday slang in the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/25 "2010-07-31T20:54:03Z")
The youngest Dick I can think of is in his early 50s. I agree that it’s generational. I know a young immigrant couple who’ve named their little boy Woody. That’s another one you don’t see much of anymore. Poor little Woody. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/26 "2010-07-31T21:48:09Z")
My daughter wrote a short story in school last year about a man named Dick, unaware of the “other” meaning. Unfortunately, there was a substitute teacher in her class that day, and when she read her story out loud, he told her, “Do you _know_ what you’re writing?” A female classmate took her aside afterward and whispered an explanation in her ear. She told me and her father about the incident, and we explained things to her as age-appropriately as we could. I notice there is a chain of sporting-goods stores in the LA area called Dick’s. It used to be called Chick’s. Did a guy buy the chain from a female owner or something? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/27 "2010-07-31T22:03:26Z")
When I was a kid back in the 50s, Richard was a really common name . . . and they were all “Dick.” Well, except for a cousin of mine who is definitely more of a “Richard.” And of course you never hear of Dick Gere, Dick Burton, Dick Prior, or Dick the Lionhearted . . . and especially not Little Dick. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/28 "2010-07-31T22:14:23Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > I notice there is a chain of sporting-goods stores in the LA area called Dick’s. It used to be called Chick’s. Did a guy buy the chain from a female owner or something? 😉 They could’ve merged and called it “Chicks with…” ah, nevermind. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/29 "2010-08-01T02:25:35Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Well, we seem to have plenty of showing for “dick” being used as slang for penis going back pretty far, but I’m not sure that’s relevant. Today (going back how far?) we casually toss about the word, and it’s not just in referring to someone as a penis. I’m not sure when I first started hearing “don’t be a dick” all the time, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t everyday slang in the 1970’s. No, I feel certain we used that a lot in West Texas in the '70s. The early part of that decade was my formative cussing years. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/30 "2010-08-01T02:32:46Z")
My younger brother went by Dick until sometime in the late 60s when he realized the slang meaning. It was still a fairly common nickname then, not so much nowadays. Personally, I don’t think it’s as bad as some of the last names people run around with. If my last name was Kunt (“Warden, it’s pronounced koont.”), or Fuchs, for example, I think I’d have changed it the second I turned 18. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/31 "2010-08-01T06:25:24Z")
Perhaps it didn’t apply to Richard, but I noticed that nicknaming of strangers was often done gratuitiously in San Jose, California during the 1970’s. Say “Hello, My name is Robert Jones” and the reply might be “Nice to meet you, Bob!” Drive over the mountain to Santa Cruz and this custom was less prevalent… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/32 "2010-08-01T07:21:40Z")
I don’t understand this double meaning thing regards Randy ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/33 "2010-08-01T10:47:47Z")
Dick=penis may be a century or more old, but Dick as short for Richard is waaaay older. As it happens, we went to see a production of _Richard III_ a few weeks ago, and there’s a line in there referring to “thou misshappen Dick” I bet they had fun with that in rehearsal… ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/34 "2010-08-01T10:57:21Z")
Richard Dastardly doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/35 "2010-08-01T13:56:03Z")
I had an Uncle Dick who was a Richard. He was born in the early 30’s in Canada and it was still a popular name. He went by Dick for his entire life. It’s funny how words can change their meaning to something totally opposite over time. Dick has meant so many things over the ages and now it’s another word for penis. As a kid in the 60’s it was a word for cop along with pig. It was also in the name of my first grade primer, “Dick, Jane and Sally”. I never heard of a riding whip called a dick but I guess it was? Another name bites the dust! From Cecil’s column: The term “dick” came to mean policeman around 1908, and then detective. And we finally get to where you started. The use of “dick” as coarse slang for penis first arises around 1890. Tracking the history of uncouth words is not easy, since such expressions were not generally written down. How “dick” came to be associated with penis is not known, although the riding whip may have pointed the way. So there you have it. — Dex ---
**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:** [August 2, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/36 "2010-08-02T16:53:08Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > I notice there is a chain of sporting-goods stores in the LA area called Dick’s. It used to be called Chick’s. Did a guy buy the chain from a female owner or something? 😉 We have Dick’s Sporting Goods here. Years ago my husband and his brother were looking for athletic shoes and stopped in to a shoe store to inquire about a brand. They were told no, they didn’t have them. The girl added, “Have you tried Dicks?” Apparently the two of them stood there and giggled like Beevis and Butthead. Now of course it’s one of our favorite jokes when anything remotely connected to sporting goods is mentioned. “Have you tried dicks?” “Yeah, but I didn’t like 'em.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/37 "2010-08-02T18:19:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > 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. Also, Dick Grayson and Dick Nixon go more than a few decades back. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/38 "2010-08-02T22:29:44Z")
My grandpa and father are both named Richard, so when my dad was growing up, my grandpa was “Big Dick” and my dad was “Little Dick.” He did not like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/39 "2010-08-02T22:53:06Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > I don’t understand this double meaning thing > > regards > > Randy Is that you, Mr Johnson? ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609/40 "2010-08-03T07:06:14Z")
I knew a customs officer whose name was Richard Dick. And yes, he would answer to Dick Dick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-richard-is-that-a-generational-thing/548609.md?page=3)