Why Is Dick a nickname for Richard

Thu Aug 13 18:33:46 UTC 2009

Short answer:

When English grammarians began to describe language sounds - during the 17th
C.- they insisted that R at the beginning of a word had quite a rough sound
which it didn't usually have elsewhere in words.

But written records as far back as around 1300 show that some writers had
already begun misspelling Old English words by dropping some Rs, especially
at the end or sometimes in the middle of words. Anyone sufficiently educated
to write and spell at all would have kept the Rs in spelling unless they
had already faded to nothing in those speakers' experience. (Cf. arse/ass:
originally the same word, with the R in the middle.)  Initial Rs, however,
were *not* disappearing.

This R-dropping became increasingly general, but in Scotland and Ireland,
where speakers of English showed up - unwanted - much earlier, the Rs didn't
drop nearly as much.  So the Scots and Irish speakers of English were
adhering far more faithfully to the old pronunciations of R.  They're still
doing so, and initial Rs in those countries generally remain
rougher-sounding than anywhere in England, or the U.S.

To sum up:

1. The earliest English phoneticians (17th C.)  took it that the "rough" R
was normal at the beginning of words - like "Richard."

2. Since non-initial Rs had been fitfully eroding in England for centuries,
to nearly zero at the end of many words, the drift must have been from
"rough" (or "trilled") to "a lot less rough" (like most American Rs) to
"next to nothing" (as in London, Boston, and old Charleston).  No other
sequence makes sense in light of the original existence of R in ancient
spellings.

Therefore, they rolled their Rs a whole lot more in the Middle Ages, thus
encouraging babies named named "Richard" to wind up also as "Dick."

Remember that this the "short version."  There's more evidence, but I don't
feel sufficiently well informed to go into it.

Ffor the benefit of the original questioner, I should also have mentioned
that Sean Connery is a famous old-time actor who used to play a Scottish
spy. He even rolled the R in the word SMERSH.  If you're still out there,
your parents may remember him from when they were small.

JL

On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 1:19 PM, David A. Daniel <dad at pokerwiz.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "David A. Daniel" <dad at POKERWIZ.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Why Is Dick a nickname for Richard
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> How do we know, technically?
>
> ____________________________________________
> We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 1:54 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Why Is Dick a nickname for Richard
>
>
>
> I should have added:
>
> Back in the 13th C. and those days, people used to roll their Rs a lot more
> than today, especially in words like "Richard." Kind of like Sean Connery
> would.
>
> Don't ask how we know. It's technical.
>
> A "rolled-R" "Richard" or even "Rick" was a lot harder for babies in Merrie
> Olde England to say than "Dick."  Try it yourself.
>
> JL
> On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 12:43 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >:      Re: Why Is Dick a nickname for Richard
> >
> >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
> >
> > What the professor means is...
> >
> > Many kids learning to talk have a hard time pronouncing R (as in
> Richard),
> > so they substitute D if they find that easier.  Same thing for K, which
> may
> > be easier for an infant to say than CH. So the "Rich" of "Richard" comes
> > out
> > as "Dick."
> >
> > In the same way, for some tots, B is easier to say than W, and they learn
> > to
> > say it sooner. So the "Will" of "William" comes out as "Bill."
> >
> > And here's what I think too:
> > It's been going on for centuries, and moms and dads thought it was so
> cute
> > that they began saying the baby-talk versions themselves when talking
> > to their little bundles of joy.  The bundles quickly got the idea that
> they
> > were "Dick" as well as "Richard," and "Bill" as well as "William" or
> > "Will."
> >
> > So blame the parents.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 12:22 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> >
> >  >
> > >
>  > >        I'm not sure what to make of the original post, but I think
> any
> > > real answer does need to take account of the fact that some traditional
> > > nicknames are rhyming short forms of the full given name, such as
> > > Dick/Richard, Bob/Robert, Bill/William, and Ted/Edward.
> > >
> > >
> > > John Baker
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf
> > > Of Laurence Horn
> > > Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:02 PM
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Subject: Re: Why Is Dick a nickname for Richard
> > >
> > > At 11:42 PM +0800 8/13/09, Russ McClay wrote:
> > > >Hey, my dad was called Dick so I was curious.
> > > >Here's something I found. Any comments? lol
> > >
> > > If this is a real question and you're seeking a real answer, as opposed
> > > to those below, I'd look for explanations based on articulatory
> > >  phonetics and acquisition (and maybe a bit of markedness). [r] is
> > > learned relatively late by children, so a neighboring "easier" sound is
> > > substituted:  if the child retains voicing and articulatory position
> > > (alveolar) but changes manner of articulation, the [r] turns into [d].
> > > Affricates are tricky too, so [k], voiceless velar stop, replaces [C],
> > > voiceless palatal affricate (in lieu of a palatal stop).  Similarly,
> for
> > > "William", [b] is mastered before [w], they're both voiced bilabials,
> so
> > > the former is called on to replace the latter.  And enough kids were
> > > doing this to result in the hypocoristics becoming standardized.  At
> > > least that seems more reasonable than any of the below.
> > >
> > > LH
> > >
> > > >* * *
> > > >
> > > >Q: Why is Dick a nickname for Richard?
> > > >
> > > >A: a man named richard from the 40s or 50s nick named dick because he
> > > >was a Detective named Richard aka DICK RICK
> > > >
> > > >The name Richard is very old and it's true origins may well be lost in
> > > >the depths of time past. 'Richeard' is a name from Old English where
> > > >'Ric' meant ruler and 'heard' meant hard. In those days of yore,
> before
> > >
> > > >word-processors, everything was written down and abbreviations became
> > > >common and agreed upon. Also in the 13th century rhyming slang became
> > > >popular so Richard becomes Rich and eventually Rick which rhymes with
> > > >Dick. Much like William - Will - Bill.
> > > >
> > > >'Dick' eventually, like 'Jack', came to mean all men as in "every Tom,
> > > >Dick, or Harry". Shakespeare uses "every Tom, Dick, or Francis" in
> > > >Henry IV Part I.
> > > >
> > > >I know a guy named Richard, and he was a total dick.
> > > >
> > > >http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Dick_a_nickname_for_Richard
> > > >
> > > >Russ
> > >  >
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> >
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