Why do people call Richard... Dick for short?
348500
Its the same reason people call Robert Bob for short...\n\nMakes no sense whatsoever...
610914
dick channey..i dont know how its spelled though
681562
to make the word a little shorter? i dunno lol
22676
WITH A NAME LIKE MR. BIG DICK PRICE SHOULD NOT MATTER
919674
At least you got a sense of humor about it. \n\nHere's the best I could find after a couple minutes of searching:\nhttp://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdick.html\n\nLooks like you'll have to go back about 800 years in time. Better to go and kill the dick who made it a slang term in the late 1800s...
272794
Short. Because you can carry them and dominate them.
110759
William is a very old name in the English language, which has Germanic roots.  In the old English, the letter W sounded more similar to German, where they pronounce W's with a V sound.  The shape of the mouth to create a V and B are very similar.  When the English language became a written as well as a spoken language, people used phonetic spellings of words. Therefore some people's names were listed as Will and some were listed as Bill depending on how the listener thought it was pronounced.\n\nNow, people choose which one they like better or that suits their person more.\n\nWhy is Dick short for Richard? That's the one I never understood.
1160531
because everyone wants a bigger dick
95931
because small people are called midgets ^^
850495
"Have you heard of a search engine? "\n\nQuicker to type in to Google.\n\nOne born every minute.\n\nDear Straight Dope:\n\nWhich Dick came first?\n\nOK, so if this isn't too crude of an opener, I will explain myself. My question is a simple one, but one that has troubled me for many years. I am puzzled as to which of these events occurred:\n\n1. Someone (somebody had to be first didn't they?) named Richard thought it was a grand idea to go by a nickname which was also slang for the male genitalia "penis."\n\n2. Penis slang was personified for someone nicknamed Dick who perhaps resembled in appearance or actions the male genitalia.\n\n3. Some "coincidence" which cannot be explained.\nAdding to the uniqueness of this nickname is that Dick only shares two letters with Richard. Can you imagine for example "Pussy" being an acceptable nickname for Priscilla. Or "Tits" for Theresa. Perhaps "Ass" for Osama is on the way into the language and we don't even know it yet. --Justin aka "Kneecap"\n\nSDSTAFF Dex replies:\n\nSure, or perhaps "to Cecil" will come to mean "to be wise beyond one's years."\n\nObviously the name came first. The name Richard is very old, although its origin is disputed. Old English had Richeard, from Ric (ruler) and heard (hard); French had Richart, and Old German had Ricohard. The name Richer was also fairly common until the 13th Century or thereabouts.\n\nIn those days, manuscripts, letters, grocery lists, and everything else was written by hand; it was therefore common and easier to use agreed-upon abbreviations. "Rich." was used for "Richer" and "Ric." for "Richard" or "Ricard."\n\nRichard and Ricard were equally popular in the Middle Ages, and the abbreviations led naturally to diminutives--such as Rich, Richie, Rick, and Ricket. Rhyming nicknames were also fairly common in the 12th and 13th centuries, and so we also have Hitch from Rich, Hick and Dick from Rick, and Hicket from Ricket. Some of these later became surnames or parts of surnames. We note that while Dick endures as a nickname, "Hick" has thankfully become obsolete, except when tied to "Dick" in rhymes such as "Hickory, Dickory, Dock."\n\nIn the 13th and 14th centuries, "Hick" evolved, however improbably, into "Hudde," from which derives surnames such as "Hudson." W. Bardsley's masterful work, Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1901) cites a Latin manuscript that mentions "Ricardus dictus Hudde de Walkden."\n\nBack at the ranch, Dick and Hick were among the earliest of the rhyming nicknames, first appearing in writing around 1220. Other rhyming nicknames include Polly from Molly, Bob from Rob (from Robert), Bill from Will (from William); and Hodge from Roger.\n\nThe name Dick (like the name Jack) was used colloquially to mean a man or everyman. The expression "every Tom, Dick, or Harry" attests to the this as a long-established usage; Shakespeare uses "every Tom, Dick, or Francis" in Henry IV Part I.\n\nFrom the usage of Dick to mean average person, other usages appeared. Many other usages. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a dick as meaning a type of hard cheese in 1847, which lead to the usage of "spotted dick" (to be dealt with in an upcoming Staff Report.) The term "dick" was also used to mean a riding whip, an apron, the mound around a ditch, and an abbreviation for "dictionary" around 1860.\n\nDick also meant a declaration, in which sense the OED cites someone writing in 1878 "I'd take my dying dick" to mean "I'd swear a dying declaration." The term "dick" came to mean policeman around 1908, and then detective.\n\nAnd we finally get to where you started. The use of "dick" as coarse slang for penis first arises a
67000
Man, your spelling makes this impossible to decipher. \n\nYour 'richard' touches the side of what? The bowl, the seat, does it splash in the water?\n\nAnd what is a broblem, and a sit.? \n\nLearn to write in a way that others can understand, please!
917832
I agree with you! I used to get so annoyed when I was at school and a teacher would want me to call them Sir. Because, unless they have been knighted by the Queen - I will be calling them Mr!\n\nIt also annoys me when people call women Madam - sorry, but to me a Madam is a person that runs a brothel!
208582
I think its a sign of how they are brought up. Jerks seem to have no problem saying whatever comes naturally. The difference is that a jerk says offensive things. I believe deep down this is a true sign of insecurity and should be viewed as such.
721071
"honorable (insert last name here)".  it hurts sometimes when i get in trouble to call someone that wears a robe to indicate their stature honorable.  honorable should be more than a title.......it should be an life style.
387025
perdant for a guy\n\nperdante for a girl\n\nbut they don't use it as much for a personal insult as we do in English. They have lots of insults that they like better.
263296
I've always wondered that too!!\nHow do you get Dick from Richard? How do you get Jack from John? etc.,etc.,etc.
483834
He is really short. hes too short. Its means just what it is