Is a whale’s penis really a ‘dork’? Or is that definition a myth?
When are you people going to learn, size doesn’t matter.
The Oxford English Dictionary just gives “penis” as a definition, not specifically a cetacean one. Etymology is unknown, but they suggest a variant of “dick,” which is why it’s also used in the more familiar meaning. First citation 1964.
Well, it’s not a myth. It’s not even untrue, but the implications are false.
True: the English word “dork” can refer to a whale’s penis
False: “dork” is a specific word for whale penis (as opposed to other types of penis)
False: English has a specific word which means “whale penis.”
I agree, As far as I have ever been able to determine, there is absolutely no basis to the allegation that “dork” has ever been a specific word for a whale’s penis. I have never come across it in either the scientific literature or more popular natural history accounts. I would note that there is a reference in Moby Dick to a whale’s penis where no mention is made of such a word.
http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/dork
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Talk:dork
So it does appear that it is not a specific definition; but it appears to be a popular one.
It is pretty much analogous to “A duck’s quack doesn’t echo.” You can find this factoid repeated infinitely on websites; but it has no basis in actual fact.
Only a duck’s quack echos or it doesn’t. Words can be more flexible.
Which is not to say that I insist that a whale’s penis is officially a ‘dork’; else I wouldn’t have asked the question. From what you and Dr. Drake (speaking of ducks – heh) posted, I see that ‘dork’ does not specifically refer to a whale’s penis.
On the other hand, ulu is the Eskimo (Bering Sea-Aleutian language, whichever that is) for the epipubic bone of the walrus, the one used by horny male walruses to support their erections.
Yeah, I know several guys who are real ulus. 
Dork is also a derogatory word, in the US, for a certain kind of man. A dork, in that sense, has diminished intelligence and is socially clumsy. Perhaps dork is close to the UK’s twit.
There are subtle shadings among the genital-based insults in the US. A prick and a dick are both guys who insist on making a problem of themselves, but prick carries a bigger sack of viciousness.
Yiddish has a whole fistful of these, but I don’t know the subtleties of them.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6467645
From the link: " The traditional ULU was an Eskimo cutting tool made of slate and bone,"
Maybe the bone that these knives were made of were from walruses afterall…