Thanks Internet!

[bluegargantua]

Hey,

So I've always wondered why it is that "Dick" is short for "Richard". They don't seem to have any relation so it's not clear what was up with that.

Finally, I took advantage of mankind's greatest (and most terrible) achievement and just looked up the answer on the Internet.

So this whole thing crops up when England is getting overrun by everyone and their duck (notably Qvack from Hagar the Horrible). So you've got the name Richard, but you've also got the Germanic version of that namne: Rikard and from that you get the shortened version Rik and from there it's a quick jump to Dick. So Richard and Rikard are equivalent and when all the Germanic names die out, Dick becomes short for Richard.

So there you have it. Pretty Tricky, Dick.
Tom

Comments

[melebeth]

Huh. Fascinating.

[trystero.livejournal.com]

Now explain how we get "Peg" from "Margaret"...  :-)

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

Margaret to Meg to Peg?

Polly is a nickname for Mary, so there must be a similar... ok, i need to go look this up. will comment again when i get a better answer

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

wikipedia led me to this page: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/764/why-is-peggy-the-nickname-for-margaret but the wiki article on the name margaret is WONDERFUL. full of weird names.

[minerva42]

Neat! (My dad is Richard/Dick, depending on what forms you're filling out.)