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I actually really like the name Dick, and I wish it was still usable, but it is not.

It's like Bob or Rick but with dirty jokes.

This message was edited 10/2/2021, 12:10 PM

I think many people don't realize just how recent the use of "dick" as slang for "penis" is. The first references to it is from an 1891 slang dictionary, where it was probably British army slang, and I don't think it was commonly used in the USA for several decades after that.

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Also, it's only when Dick lost fashion as a name that the slang meaning became a problem. When everyone knew several men named Dick, when one first heard the word one's mind immediately went to the "man's name" meaning, not the slang meaning. That's why very few people object to John as a name even though it has two bad slang meanings, "toilet" and "prostitute's customer." When one meets a man named John, those images don't immediately come into one's mind precisely because one has known of so many men named John before. It's only people too young to have known men called Dick their own age who have a big problem with it.

This message was edited 10/2/2021, 10:16 AM

Hear me out...

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If it weren’t slang, I honestly don’t think the name would be that bad. It wouldn’t interest me, but it’s not horrible without it.

Yeah it’s pretty bad. I think without the slang, it still wouldn’t interest me.

Yes, it is that bad now. It didn't used to be, because back in Ye Olden Days, decent people didn't let on if they happened to know a nasty word even if that nasty word was in common usage as a person's name. But times have changed and Dick has fallen out of favor, because the nasty word is just about unavoidable and no English-speaking person would be believed if he said he had no idea.

Don't like it all

Eh, it's ok. I don't mind it so much because Dick Grayson (Robin/Nightwing from Batman) is a favorite of mine, but it is unfortunate now. It almost feels unrealistic in the recent comics and the show Titans, that there were be someone under the age of, like 60, willingly going by the name Dick. Even in a show full of superheroes set in a world with aliens and magic lol.

Two of my favourite books growing up where The Famous Five (Dick) and The Secret Garden (Dickon) and it's probably the only the reason I like it. But it's of course unusable because of the slang & curse word.

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P.s. My mum used to have an aunt named Dick. No idea what it was short for, I'd have to dive into the family tree..

This message was edited 10/1/2021, 12:09 PM