# Origin of "dick" as slang for your wang?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dick-as-slang-for-your-wang/363552>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 7, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dick-as-slang-for-your-wang/363552 "2006-07-07T21:25:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dick-as-slang-for-your-wang/363552/21 "2006-07-09T04:40:04Z")

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From German Class: “Ich liebe Dich”

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dick-as-slang-for-your-wang/363552/22 "2006-07-09T12:04:44Z")

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> [@Rhubarb](#):
>
> My Jewish friend once told me that schmuck was Yiddish for foreskin and it’s slang meaning, that of a jerk or fool, arose because the foreskin is completely useless (to a Jewish person). Someone better versed in Yiddish is welcome to correct me on this.

I can’t find anything scholarly that would indicate that _shmuck_ originally meant _foreskin_.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-dick-as-slang-for-your-wang/363552/23 "2006-07-09T13:08:09Z")

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> [@samclem](#):
>
> I can’t find anything scholarly that would indicate that _shmuck_ originally meant _foreskin_.

Totally news to me as well. Not in any of my books, or knowledge of Yiddish.

Even if originally true - and it sounds totally like folk etymology - it hasn’t been true in usage for generations.

> [@Squink](#):
>
> From German Class: “Ich liebe Dich”

When I was in college, the school experimented with a then new-fangled language lab, in which we would repreat phrases back into a tape recorder.

My German never recovered from the day I sat next to a girl who kept repeating, loudly:  
Itch Leeba Ditch. Itch Leeba Ditch. Itch Leeba Ditch. :smack:

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