The term came to be associated with the penis through usage by men in the military around the 1880s. Īn 1869 slang dictionary offered definitions of dick including 'a riding whip' and an abbreviation of dictionary, also noting that in the North Country, it was used as a verb to indicate that a policeman was eyeing the subject. Yet this too, proved an ineffectual Operator. The next Dick I pickt up for her was a man of a colour as contrary to the former, as light is to darkness, being swarthy whose hair was as black as a sloe middle statur'd, well set, both strong and active, a man so universally tryed, and so fruitfully successful, that there was hardly any female within ten miles gotten with child in hugger-mugger, but he was more than suspected to be Father of all the legitimate. For example, in the 1665 satire The English Rogue by Richard Head, a 'dick' procured to impregnate a character that is having difficulty conceiving: In the mid-17th century, dick became slang for a man as a sexual partner. Origin and evolution of the pejorative slang Uses such as these have provided a basis for comedy writers to exploit this juxtaposition through double entendre. The offensiveness of the word dick is complicated by the continued use of the word in inoffensive contexts, including as both a given name (often a nickname for Richard) and a surname, the popular British dessert spotted dick, the classic novel Moby-Dick, the Dick and Jane series of children's books, and the American retailer Dick's Sporting Goods. Variants include dickhead, which literally refers to the glans.

In this context, it can be used interchangeably with jerk, and can also be used as a verb to describe rude or deceitful actions. It is also used by extension for a variety of slang purposes, generally considered vulgar, including: as a verb to describe sexual activity and as a pejorative term for individuals who are considered to be rude, abrasive, inconsiderate, or otherwise contemptible. Dick is a common English slang word for the human penis.

Playing with big dicks