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Difference between revisions of "dork"
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| − | '''Dork''' is a slang word for a quirky, silly and/or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends. Popular etymology | + | '''Dork''' is a slang word for a quirky, silly and/or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends. Popular etymology of the word suggests that this slang term originally came from a term that meant a whale's penis. That idea is half right. |
| − | + | "dork" did originally refer to a penis, but it referred to a human penis, not a cetacean penis. The slang sense meaning "penis" dates back to at least the year 1961 and is thought to be by etymologists a variant on the word [[dick]] or "dirk" (another name sometimes used to personalize the phallus). The sense of "dork" meaning a stupid or obnoxious person started a few years later, in 1967. How the myth about the word originally referring to a whale's penis came about is unknown. | |
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | * http://www.wordorigins.org/wordord.htm | ||
[[Category:Slang]] | [[Category:Slang]] | ||
Latest revision as of 05:28, 18 February 2006
Dork is a slang word for a quirky, silly and/or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends. Popular etymology of the word suggests that this slang term originally came from a term that meant a whale's penis. That idea is half right.
"dork" did originally refer to a penis, but it referred to a human penis, not a cetacean penis. The slang sense meaning "penis" dates back to at least the year 1961 and is thought to be by etymologists a variant on the word dick or "dirk" (another name sometimes used to personalize the phallus). The sense of "dork" meaning a stupid or obnoxious person started a few years later, in 1967. How the myth about the word originally referring to a whale's penis came about is unknown.
