dick English · revision 3874

+ English has two common words spelled ''dick'': the “fellow” and the “penis”, from the name Dick, and the “detective”, perhaps a shortening of [[detective]].^(MW Collegiate)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|fellow, penis}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1553|origins=en Richard}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the nickname Dick, a rhyming form of Rick, short for [[Richard]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) one of the commonest English names.^(Etymonline) The SOED calls it a playful alteration of Ric- in Anglo-Norman Ricard.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Fellow, lad, man”, from the 1550s;^(Etymonline) the OED's first record of the pet name used for any man is from 1553.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Since the name was a synonym for “fellow”, most of its slang senses are probably very old but hard to find in the records.^(Etymonline) Green has the “man, fellow” sense from 1592, in Greene, and in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost''.^(GDoS) The meaning “penis” is attested from 1891 in Farmer's slang dictionary, possibly British army slang;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) the New Partridge has an American example from 1888.^(Dalzell 2013) The verb, “to bungle, waste time” and “to cheat, treat badly”, often with ''off'' or ''around'', is American by 1969;^(Etymonline) the New Partridge dates “to exploit, harm” to 1964.^(Dalzell 2013) The adjective “mean, offensive” is from 2000.^(GDoS) In dialect, compounds such as ''dick-ass'', a jackass, and ''dick-bird'', a cock bird, used it for the male of an animal.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1553 – the name used for any man.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1592 – a fellow.^(GDoS)

+ * 1891 – the penis.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1964 – verb, to exploit.^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1969 – to bungle, waste time.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A fellow; a guy.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' The [[penis]].^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' A contemptible man.^(GDoS)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' To bungle or waste time, often with ''around''.^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' To cheat or treat badly.^(Etymonline)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dickhead]]

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+ {{homograph|2|detective}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=clipping|attested=1905|origins=en detective}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is perhaps a shortened variant of [[detective]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) or from the obsolete slang dick “to look”,^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) from [[rom|dik-|t=to look]], ultimately from Hindi dekh- “to look”.^(GDoS) Green notes that a link with the comic-strip Dick Tracy (created 1931) is chronologically impossible.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A detective, a police officer: from 1905 in Green, as American slang,^(GDoS) 1908 in the OED and Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is chiefly American, of plain-clothes detectives and the police generally.^(GDoS)^(OED 1989) The earlier underworld verb ''dick'', “to look at”, was British (1864),^(GDoS) and ''to keep dick'', “to keep watch”, survives in Ulster and Antrim.^(GDoS)^(Wright 1898)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1864 – ''dick'', to look.^(GDoS)

+ * 1905 – a police officer.^(GDoS)

+ * 1908 – a detective.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(slang)'' A [[detective]] or police officer.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Richard]]

+ * [[detective]]

+ * [[dicky]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrase ''to take one's dick'', “to swear”, is from a shortening of [[declaration]] (1861).^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(GDoS) Dick Whittington, three times Lord Mayor of London (died 1423), is the hero of an old story of a poor boy who made his fortune with a cat.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}