# Why is "eat a dick" considered to be such an insult? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474 "2023-05-23T17:52:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/21 "2023-05-23T19:47:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Eat a bag of dicks” or “eat a dick” is the same type of Neanderthal thinking. In my small social group, the suggestion to “eat my dick” or “eat a bag of dicks” is much less perjorative than, say, “suck my dick”. Maybe it has been trivialised by services that [supply a bag of dicks](http://postabagofdicks.co.za/product/eat-a-bag-of-dicks-large/). Both of the former are mild perjoratives, akin, maybe to “asshole”, whereas the latter is a major perojorative. I guess culture and location matter. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/22 "2023-05-23T20:29:37Z")
When I tell someone to eat a dick, I mean it as sincere advice. If they’ve got a dick in their mouth, they won’t be able to spout whatever garbage they were saying that pissed me off in the first place, plus they’ll be doing someone a genuine service for once. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/23 "2023-05-23T20:50:16Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Maybe it has been trivialised by services that [supply a bag of dicks](http://postabagofdicks.co.za/product/eat-a-bag-of-dicks-large/). I remember this: > **[People Can't Stop Mailing Dicks to the Oregon Dummies](https://www.gq.com/story/oregon-militia-dummies-dicks-in-the-mail)** > > Not exactly the supplies they were asking for. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/24 "2023-05-23T20:54:06Z")
That’s what I came to say! If you’re hungry, eat this. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/25 "2023-05-23T20:56:11Z")
Sofia Vergara responded to a "Mean Tweet " that accused her of sounding like she had a dick in her mouth by asking what was wrong with having a dick in her mouth. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/imW392e6XR0/maxresdefault.jpg "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets #7") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imW392e6XR0) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/26 "2023-05-23T21:03:41Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I’ve heard and seen it used many times and never stopped to wonder why it’s considered so insulting or disdainful? Can you think of any positive meaning it would have? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/27 "2023-05-23T21:22:32Z")
My interpretation is it’s akin to fuck off. Synonymous with eat me or blow me. Suck dick or eat a bag is more vulgar imo. But I’ve overheard it in the context of crude banter among male friends or acquaintances Yada. Ymmv. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/28 "2023-05-23T21:41:59Z")
I actually used this service. I sent a bag of dicks to one of my friends, in cahoots with another friend. He said they were delicious. I also sent one to a homophobic legislator in some other state. I hope he was offended. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/29 "2023-05-23T21:54:56Z")
Urbandictionary has pages on “[eat a dick](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=eat%20a%20dick)”. The definitions range from the mildly humorous to “Usually ends arguments and begins fights.” The variety implies, as this thread does, that the meaning evolved over time and place. Seriously, though, in a country that for most of its history treated gay men as sissies, pussies, effeminate, twisted, inverted, perverts, untouchable except to beat up just for their very existence, how can anybody believe that “eat a dick” didn’t start as a venomous insult to diminish and stigmatize other males? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/30 "2023-05-23T22:01:56Z")
Although “fuck you” is also insulting, and i don’t think it means that it’s always bad to be fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/31 "2023-05-23T22:39:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Seriously, though, in a country that for most of its history treated gay men as sissies, pussies, effeminate, twisted, inverted, perverts, untouchable except to beat up just for their very existence, how can anybody believe that “eat a dick” didn’t start as a venomous insult to diminish and stigmatize other males? I would add… To diminish and stigmatize other males _by comparing them to women._ I don’t think “eat a bag of dicks” is that far removed from other vulgar insults with vaguely sexually violent misogynist/homophobic implications, but I admit the thought of a bunch of penises jumbled together in a bag is pretty funny. It takes the sting out of it a little, at least for me, because a bag of dicks just sitting there is not sexual, just silly. I mean you just know they’re all flopping around in there. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/32 "2023-05-23T22:47:25Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I guess culture and location matter. I’m sure they do; and the fact that the OP has “heard and seen it used many times” while the first replier said “It’s not something I’ve heard often” (and as for me personally, I can’t remember ever hearing it, though that doesn’t mean I haven’t) is evidence of that. And, while it doesn’t explain its origins, I’m sure part of the reason it’s considered by some to be such an insult is that it’s considered to be such an insult. That is, many of the people who use it as an insult do so because they’ve heard other people use it as an insult, and they may not have given much thought to what it might mean. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/33 "2023-05-23T23:00:44Z")
You should not be eating a bag of dicks unless you are dumb as a bag of hammers. You get an extra bag that way. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/34 "2023-05-23T23:27:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > how can anybody believe that “eat a dick” didn’t start as a venomous insult to diminish and stigmatize other males? Sure, but so did “that sucks”, which few people have a problem with today. What matters is current usage, not origin stories. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/35 "2023-05-23T23:35:44Z")
But “sucks” was about donkey dong, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/36 "2023-05-23T23:40:40Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > > how can anybody believe that “eat a dick” didn’t start as a venomous insult to diminish and stigmatize other males? ⁢ > > Sure, but so did “that sucks”, which few people have a problem with today. What matters is current usage, not origin stories. ⁢ I don’t believe it’s ever been proven that “that sucks” comes from “that sucks a dick.” But, even if it did, still the latter is seen as more problematic than the former, due to the explicit mention of the male genitals. (Another argument is that “sucks” comes from the same place as “sucker,” and that both come from the idea of being the type of person who still sucks on his mother’s breasts–aka, a child. So the insult would be that the person is childish, weak, stupid, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/37 "2023-05-23T23:47:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t believe it’s ever been proven that “that sucks” comes from “that sucks a dick.” Seems hard to be otherwise. “That sucks dick” or **bobot** ’s “that sucks donkey dong” were always valid intensifiers in my experience. Even if the origin were more complicated, the phrases worked as a set. But “that sucks” was always the most popular, possibly because it could be used by children without their parents really knowing about it. “Sucker” was a completely unrelated insult. Sorta old-fashioned, but something you might use after a round of high five/down low/too slow. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/38 "2023-05-24T00:07:02Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > but I admit the thought of a bunch of penises jumbled together in a bag is pretty funny. It takes the sting out of it a little, at least for me, Yes. It’s clearly a humorous variation on a theme. I still remember the first time I heard someone use that expression: c. 2004 some photographer got into a verbal fight with White Sox security about not being allowed somewhere or another and he ended the conversation with “go eat a bag uh dicks!” I just about doubled over in laughter, having not heard it put that way before. But the etymology – at least to me – clearly derives from “suck my dick” and its kin, which all come from a homophobic or mysogynist background. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/39 "2023-05-24T00:21:12Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > What matters is current usage, not origin stories. I don’t think it’s that simple. If you’re talking about the etymological fallacy with respect to an ordinary inoffensive word or phrase, sure. But “that sucks dick” has a clear literal meaning that makes it a metaphor for “that’s bad” only in a culture of misogyny and homophobia. Even if you argue that it is not generally used today with the conscious intent to be misogynistic or homophobic, you can’t just shrug off the baggage of its cultural origin. When it becomes shortened to “that sucks” (if that’s what happened), it’s less clear cut. Maybe that’s far enough removed from the explicit metaphor that potential baggage from its origins doesn’t matter. I’m not sure. But I don’t think it’s as simple as just saying that current usage is all that matters here. I mean, there are obvious examples where innocent widespread modern usage _doesn’t_ outweigh the baggage. I grew up using the word “gypped” quite innocently with no idea of its origin, and I know I’m not alone in that. As a kid I had never seen it written, so I didn’t have the clue of the spelling. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone (other than maybe actual racists) try to argue that it’s okay after finding out. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474/40 "2023-05-24T00:24:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > > I’ve heard and seen it used many times and never stopped to wonder why it’s considered so insulting or disdainful? > > Can you think of any positive meaning it would have? Between/among sexual partners fond of each other at least one of whom has a dick? > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Although “fuck you” is also insulting, and i don’t think it means that it’s always bad to be fucked. The fact that “fuck” is so commonly an insult actually bothers me some. I’m sufficiently used to it that it doesn’t bother me much, and have used and will probably again use it myself – but thinking about how that came to be an insult does not lead to pleasant thoughts. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I admit the thought of a bunch of penises jumbled together in a bag is pretty funny A part of my head, annoyingly, persists in thinking of that image as of an actual batch of detached penises. Which isn’t funny at all, unless one has a very disturbing sense of humor; it’s horrifying. Obviously that isn’t what one sends an infuriating legislator (or a friend) through the mail. Most of my head is well aware of that. It’s just that one bit that spoils the joke for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-eat-a-dick-considered-to-be-such-an-insult/984474.md?page=3)