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HelpOh, you all are so young!
in reply to a message by LC Dempsey
Why would Dick Cheney call himself Dick? Because for people of his generation and older, Dick is simply the normal pet form of Richard and no one immediately thinks of the negative slang meanings when they hear it. Anyone over the age of 50 grew up knowing many men named Richard who were called Dick in everyday life, and so it seems completely average.
And before the 1960s, the sexual meaning of the word "dick" would have been so rare in "polite conversation" that anyone who complained about it in regards to the name Dick would have been accused of having an dirty sick mind. :) And that goes doubly for complaining about "Dick Van Dyke". I don't think I ever thought of that as being any sort of "bad" name until it was mentioned on this thread.
John has about as many negative slang connotations as Dick does (toilet and prostitute's customer), but I don't see anyone saying it would be a cruel name to give a child. Is Dick Van Dyke really that much more suggestive than John Waters, John Hooker, or John Bowles? :)
And before the 1960s, the sexual meaning of the word "dick" would have been so rare in "polite conversation" that anyone who complained about it in regards to the name Dick would have been accused of having an dirty sick mind. :) And that goes doubly for complaining about "Dick Van Dyke". I don't think I ever thought of that as being any sort of "bad" name until it was mentioned on this thread.
John has about as many negative slang connotations as Dick does (toilet and prostitute's customer), but I don't see anyone saying it would be a cruel name to give a child. Is Dick Van Dyke really that much more suggestive than John Waters, John Hooker, or John Bowles? :)
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