749: richard, hick, and dick Dec 26, 2016

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The name 'Richard' might make you think of the many European royal or noble men, which is partly from it being a traditional name, but also it is believed that a predecessor of the name, perhaps 'Richardu' in Proto-Germanic meant, 'hard ruler'. There were many nicknames that came up later on, including 'Rich', 'Rick', and then, 'Dick' and 'Hick', the latter being currently unpopular. 'Dick' to mean 'vexing person' came around only in the 16th century, and then as 'penis' in the 18th or 19th, with the first recorded use found in the 1890's from an English solider. 'Hick' as well took on negative connotations from its and 'dick's' shared sense as 'man'. 'Dick,' and 'Hick' became nicknames for 'Richard' at a time when it was fairly common to have rhyme-based nicknames, in this case of 'Rick', much like with 'Rob' and 'Bob', 'Molly' and 'Polly', and 'Will' and 'Bill'.

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