# Dork **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002 "2006-11-11T13:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/1 "2006-11-11T13:27:31Z")
Is a whale’s penis really a ‘dork’? Or is that definition a myth? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/2 "2006-11-11T15:53:06Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Is a whale’s penis really a ‘dork’? [/QUOTE] 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. [QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Or is that definition a myth? [/QUOTE] 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.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/3 "2006-11-11T16:04:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/4 "2006-11-11T16:18:46Z")
[http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/dork](http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/dork) > [@](#): > > Also is a synonym for a whale’s penis. > **[Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions](https://www.answers.com/redirectSearch?query=dork)** > > Answers is the place to go to get the answers you need and to ask the questions you want > [@](#): > > The idea that it specifically refers to a whale’s penis is generally regarded as true. > **[Talk:dork - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Talk:dork)** > [@](#): > > Could someone confirm that “dork” means “whale penis”? I’m told that, historically, it means “penis” more generally. > > \ > > Actually, I believe the “whale” definition is simply a common, incorrect definition. About a year ago I had a bet with a friend regarding the “whale” definition. After, believe it or not, a conversation with a marine biologist at Scripps, we determined that “dork” never referred to any scientific description of a whale member. It does refer to penis generally though. How it got mis-applied to whales specifically is an oddity. So it does appear that it is not a specific definition; but it appears to be a popular one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/5 "2006-11-11T17:05:43Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] So it does appear that it is not a specific definition; but it appears to be a popular one. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/6 "2006-11-11T17:24:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/7 "2006-11-11T18:05:02Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/8 "2006-11-11T18:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] 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. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I know several guys who are real ulus. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/9 "2006-11-11T18:13:39Z")
I thought ulus were [knives](http://www.theulufactory.com/). ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/10 "2006-11-11T23:24:01Z")
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](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6467645) ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dork/380002/11 "2006-11-12T00:57:02Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I thought ulus were knives. [/QUOTE] 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…