# What came first, dick or Dick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 22, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151 "2002-08-22T23:01:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/1 "2002-08-22T23:01:50Z")
In this article, [dick or Dick?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdick.html) Was it just me, or was the answer in the first sentence? Hard ruler (from Heard and Ric) seems to be a logical leap to dick (or Dick). The bigger question is, why would anyone GO by “Dick” nowadays? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/2 "2002-08-23T02:58:35Z")
I dunno–why don’t you ask Dick Cheney, Dick Armey, Dick Gephardt, Dick Butkus, Dick Vitale, Dick Durbin (he’s an Illinois senator), or Dick Clark? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/3 "2002-08-23T03:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > The bigger question is, why would anyone GO by “Dick” nowadays? I doubt that _that’s_ a bigger question. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/4 "2002-08-23T12:00:54Z")
Well, OK, sure, the answer is in the first sentence… but a one-sentence Staff Report would never make it. Hence, the ancient literary art of expanding the material is employed here. Besides, that way we could cover the also oft-asked question about how Robert becomes Bob, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/5 "2002-08-23T12:18:49Z")
I was surprised that the report didn’t touch on the other proper names for penis - John Thomas, Willy, Jimmy & Johnson. Specifically, whether or not dick was just a way of naming your best friend using a comman male name. > [@](#): > > The bigger question is, why would anyone GO by “Dick” nowadays? You have to laugh at some people’s dim-witted parents. I knew a person called Richard Fuchs 🙂 . Mind you, mine weren’t overly bright either. I made it all the way through 10 years in boarding schools with nobody figuring out my name was Steve BJ 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/6 "2002-08-23T12:33:12Z")
Yeah, but **DDG** , those guys are _ **old** _. O - L - D. Dare ya to find anyone under 30 named “Dick”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/7 "2002-08-23T13:35:07Z")
Good point. 😃 So I went over to the IMDB and started looking for actors named Dick, and got to giggling so helplessly that I had to stop. Anybody remember Dick Dickson? How about A. Dick Feeler? Dick Fuchs? Dick Good? Dick Hammer? Dick Hurts? Dick Leaky? Dick Morehead? Dick Rambone? You think I’m making these up, I’m not. And they’re not porn movies, either. [http://us.imdb.com/Find](http://us.imdb.com/Find) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/8 "2002-08-23T13:46:01Z")
Dickson, Feeler, Fuchs, Good, Hammer, Morehead all appear to be either dead or definitely over 30 (the last movie any of them was in was in 1979!) The movie Dick Hurts was in actually **is** a porn, **DDG** - “Whatever Floats Your Boat”, rated X, starring porn starlet Aja. Dick Leaky was in a movie in 1993, and it looks like a cheesy sci-fi. Bet that’s not his real name! 😉 And Dick Rambone’s shown as being in 13 movies, and all of them are pornos. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Syzygy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Syzygy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syzygy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/9 "2002-08-23T14:09:23Z")
OK, so now we know how Robert got shortened to Bob, and Polly came from Molly. But how did we get Peg from Margaret? Or Hank from Henry? Even Chuck from Charles seems strange. Anyone care to comment? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/10 "2002-08-23T14:47:13Z")
The questioner asked > [@](#): > > Can you imagine for example “Pussy” being an acceptable nickname for Priscilla [?] Back in school I knew a girl with the very lovely Welsh name \*Myfanwy \*. She insisted on being called _Muffy_. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that in Welsh Myfanwy means “my fine one”. ---
**Author:** ![Bindlestiff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bindlestiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bindlestiff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/11 "2002-08-23T15:30:33Z")
I’ve gone by the name, Dick, for about 50 years now. These days, I would continue to go by, Richard. Times have changed. When I started being called Dick that word was never used to mean “penis” in polite company. That has changed. I think the change is that there is no longer any such thing as polite company. It sometimes provides good entertainment and I haven’t had anybody give me any grief over it. I’ve been known to tell someone “don’t be a dick”. It usually gets a puzzled/bemused reaction. The most interesting thing about my name is that many people whose first language is not English won’t say it. They call me Richard or Rick. My assumption is that they first encountered the word as something other than a proper noun (wow! there must be some good puns there). I used to have a co-worker from England (a very nice lady) who had no trouble with my name but was very distressed to call Randall “Randy”. Dick ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/12 "2002-08-23T16:19:40Z")
I’m amused by the fact that a guy with “stiff” in his screen name is also known as Dick … ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/13 "2002-08-23T16:23:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hawthorne \* > **in Welsh Myfanwy means “my fine one”.** … and, given the incredibly bizarre spelling system used by Welsh, I’ll bet Myfanwy is actually pronounced “throat-warbler mangrove” or something. ---
**Author:** ![Bindlestiff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bindlestiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bindlestiff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/14 "2002-08-23T17:30:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*I’m amused by the fact that a guy with “stiff” in his screen name is also known as Dick … \*\* Oh, Yeah. I once tried to ues Bindlestiff as a CB handle and got so much crap over it that I gave up. I’d forgotten. Bindlestiff is a term that Railroad Detectives used for the hobos who rode the rails during and after the depression. My grandfather was an engineer back then and I learned it from him. It was also the name of a pet dog in a story by Robert Heinlein, The Man Who Traveled In Elephants. I spent a good bit of my life being a bum, so I guess it fits. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/15 "2002-08-24T01:01:47Z")
**bindlestiff** You might find this interesting. LIghter cites the term first in English from 1897. Almost always hyphenated or two words. They started putting the words together as one word around the depression. The role of blankets carried by a tramp were known as a “bindle,” which was taken from “bundle.” These tramps took their beds with them. ---
**Author:** ![ISNorden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/47e85d/32.png) [@ISNorden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISNorden)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/16 "2002-08-24T07:34:01Z")
“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.” As others have already pointed out, “Dick” is not the only male name to have been contaminated by that meaning. The semantic shift from “common male name” to “average male” to “body part most normal males have” seems reasonable and easy to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/17 "2002-08-26T04:53:15Z")
Quoth **Syzygy** (great name, btw): > [@](#): > > But how did we get Peg from Margaret? Margaret --\> Meg: Standard shortening, plus a small vowel shift. Meg --\> Peg: Consonant change, as described in the article. I’m not sure about the mechanism behind Hank, but the reason for it is the same: Too many Henries running around, and you need to distinguish them. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/18 "2002-08-26T11:49:25Z")
I knew a guy in college who went by “Dickie”. Yep, the diminuitive form. (And that’s a pun in itself.) He was about 20. This was about 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ISNorden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/47e85d/32.png) [@ISNorden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISNorden)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2002, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/19 "2002-08-27T06:44:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bindlestiff \* > \*\*I’ve gone by the name, Dick, for about 50 years now. These days, I would continue to go by, Richard. Times have changed. When I started being called Dick that word was never used to mean “penis” in polite company. [snipped for brevity]…The most interesting thing about my name is that many people whose first language is not English won’t say it. They call me Richard or Rick. My assumption is that they first encountered the word as something other than a proper noun (wow! there must be some good puns there). > > Dick \*\* I’ve known of people who subscribed to religious magazines under the pseudonym “Reverend Richard Head” or “Reverend Richard Taiter”–mostly people who were not fond of the religion in question and used the magazines to gather ammo for their next attack. In this case I’d say that the hidden pun described these people’s attitude pretty accurately! 😉 On the other hand, I have a close friend named Richard (in his mid-50s) who can usually tell when someone dislikes him: they’ll insist on calling him Dick, even making the standard “small” and “limp” insults at times. Not everyone whose name is a potential penis joke attracts that kind of attention, though: I once had a friend named Peter Johnson, who never mentioned anybody embarrassing or insulting him that way. ---
**Author:** ![Wooglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Wooglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wooglin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151/20 "2002-08-27T14:12:53Z")
yeah, well i have a friend who is 21 years old and his name, in real life, is Iggy Fuks. that name, besides being totally sweet, is also of russian hertiage. i like to go drinking with iggy, its real BIG TIME STUFF. by the way, my last name is spey, and some german guy i met said that it meant to throw up or something similar in German. some other german supported that claim but I was like, whatever, youre name is Falk Wallet. plus i also drank with falk and that too was TOTALLY SWEET. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first-dick-or-dick/125151.md?page=2)