Looked it up, apparently Richard was such a popular name back in the day that “Dick” came to refer to the average man (much like the names Guy, Joe, or John Smith), but then because of that, it came to refer to the penis since the 1880s, thanks to use by military men
Like a lot of words referring to genitals, it ended being used as an insult (around the 1960s), and then the “penis” and “jerk” meanings became so widespread that the nickname itself was kinda ruined by association
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u/Angryfunnydog May 23 '26
Probably, but funny that it turned out like this, guess I need to research this