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If it's not obvious: "Dick" was a nickname for Richard long, long before it became a slang word for "penis".

And the newer meaning is probably why almost no Richards go by "Dick" anymore.



My friend knew a Michael "Don't call me Mike" Hunt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hunt


Yes, Dick has been a nickname for Richard for about 800 years but only got its modern slang meaning in probably late-19th or early 20th century. It seems to have come out of the British military from the phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry", which were such common names that the phrase meant every ordinary man. (Tommy was already slang for "British soldier".) And from there, one more evolutionary step for mankind....


WW1 coined “Jerry” for a German soldier, thus giving us Tom and Jerry


My wife had an elementary school teacher Richard Weiner who went by Dick. You can't make these things up.


Richard Arthur Assman got more than his 15 minutes of fame due to his name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Assman


No-one believes that I went to school with someone called Ben Deacock, but it’s true.


I still laugh occasionally when I remember an army career video I saw in school which featured (among other officers) a "Major Richard Head".


Major Dick Head must have been praying for a promotion to Lt Colonel.




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