April 30, 2023

A man from a place called Dildo has taken a photograph that turns everyone into a comedian.

Link to CBC.

And, yes, Dildo is a real place. I looked it up. It's on the island of Newfoundland. Wikipedia:
The place name "Dildo" is attested in this area since at least 1711, though how this came to be is unknown. The origin of the word "dildo" itself is obscure. It was once used to reference a phallus-shaped pin stuck in the edging of a row boat to act as a pivot for the oar (also known as a "thole pin" or "dole pin"). It was used as early as the 16th century for a cylindrical object such as a dildo glass (test tube), for a phallus-shaped sex toy, as an insult for a "contemptuous or reviling" male, and as a refrain in ballads..... 
Social scientist William Baillie Hamilton notes that Captain James Cook and his assistant Michael Lane, who mapped Newfoundland in the 1760s, often displayed a sense of humour in the place names they chose, and were not above selecting names that might "offend over-sensitive" readers....
The OED entry for the word "dildo" says the origin is unknown and finds its oldest use as an interjection — as syllables sung rhythmically (similar to "hey diddle diddle"):

1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late ii. sig. K2 Dildido dildido, Oh loue, oh loue, I feele thy rage romble below and aboue...

I'm going to assume "loue... loue" is "love... love" — not "Louie, Louie," much as I do love the idea of someone in the 16th century singing "Louie, Louie."

Later delightful quotes:

1656 S. Holland Don Zara i. vi. 57 That Gods may view, With a Dildo-doe, What we bake, and what we brew.
?1675–96 New made Medly compos'd out of Sundry Songs (single sheet) Old Obadiah sings Ave Maria, sing Lulla-by-Baby, with a Dildo....
1838 R. Southey Doctor V. 165 A story strange I will you tell..Of a woman that danced upon the rope, And so did her husband too: With a dildo, dildo, dildo, With a dildo, dildo, dee.

For the "object shaped like an erect penis," the oldest quote is from 1597, and the best quote is:

a1631 J. Donne Poems (1669) 67 She..Whom Dildoes, Bedstaves, or a velvet Glass Would be as loath to touch as Joseph was.

"Dildo" as a way to insult a person is as fresh today as it was in the 1600s:

1638 J. Ford Fancies iv. 54 The page a milke liverd Dildo....
2001 N. Weinstock As long as she needs Me 144 Marcy, get that dildo to wait another minute, will you? Get him some coffee. Spill water on him.

For a while, "dildo" was useful to refer to "A downward-hanging sausage curl on a wig."

1868 J. C. M. Bellew Poets' Corner 144 In Charles II.'s reign..the love-lock, or curl, was introduced, hanging from the nape of the neck between the shoulders. This was called the dildo, or pole-lock.

John Barth worked it into "The Sot-Weed Factor" (1960): "His wig was a campaigner, full but not extremely long, its tight curls terminating before either shoulder in pendulous corkscrewed dildos." Do people still read John Barth? It used to seem important. Post-modernism.

ADDED: I've quoted Wikipedia saying that "dildo" is "an insult for a 'contemptuous or reviling' male." That's miswritten. Surely, they meant to say it's an insult used to revile or express contempt for a man! The footnote there is to the OED, and the OED says "Originally as a general term of abuse for a boy or young man. In later use: a stupid, inept, or ridiculous person."

50 comments:

Paul said...

They could make that iceburg an 'national' monument.

Owen said...

Wait...when did Labrador become an island? It's a massive region firmly attached to the continent of North America. Just go to Montreal and keep going, maybe another 1000 miles or so. If you get to Baffin Island, you've gone too far.

Iman said...

Dat’s a big ice cock, eh!?!?

LordSomber said...

"Mr. Andrews! I saw the iceberg and I see it in your eyes. Please, tell me the truth!"

holdfast said...

From Wiki: “ Dildo is a local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador on the island of Newfoundland. It is located on the southeastern Dildo Arm of Trinity Bay about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of St. John's. South Dildo is a neighbouring community of 200 residents.[1] It is known for its unusual.”

Labrador is the part of the province that is NOT an island. Geez.

Iman said...

Come to think of it, “The Man From Dildo” would be a good title of a Western.

Dagwood said...

Cold water usually has the opposite effect.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks Owen.

Corrected

Clyde said...

The iceberg’s pronouns are He/Him.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"Dat’s a big ice cock, eh!?!?"

Well, that just what's above the waterline...

rhhardin said...

There's squaw valley, which is supposed to mean pussy.

William said...

Back in 1976, the state in which I was living issued new car license plates with a bicentennial design. The license number issued to me was DLD-076.

From thenceforth, I called that car the bicentennial dildo.

It was a good car. Which I'd kept the plate.

wendybar said...

A long time ago, my Mom came home from work, and told me how she laughingly called one of her male coworkers a DILDO. I had to tell her what it meant. She was MORTIFIED. She thought it was just a cute word!! I still laugh when I think of the look on her face!!

n.n said...

Icy masculinity.

Owen said...

rhhardin: growing up in Northern Canada we enjoyed smoked salmon skin (fresh from "fish wheel" traps on the Yukon River). It was called "squaw candy." Probably illegal to say that now.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Climate extremist floatie

OT:
Debating Leftist Student on “Right-Wing Bigotry” & “Don’t Say Gay”

RigelDog said...

Poseidon be floating on his back, just chillin'

Wince said...

I dub thee... Jimmy Hendrix.

Cynthia Albritton, aka Cynthia Plaster Caster, superfan famed for making molds of rock stars’ private parts, dead at 74
By Maureen O’Donnell, Apr 21, 2022

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Amethyst geode with Candle Stick Calcite Formation & Skunked Goethite From Artigas, Uruguay.

There must be some math genius that can figure out the odds. An AI maybe?

stlcdr said...

Does it identify as a male or female?

J Melcher said...

I wish I didn't tend to agree with the sentiment: I'm going to assume "loue... loue" is "love... love" — not "Louie, Louie," much as I do love the ida of someone in the 16th century singing "Louie, Louie."

Though I feel no strong obligation to make that assumption. The smallest of reasons would change my mind.

holdfast said...

Overall, Newfoundland has some great town names:

-Come By Chance
-Blow Me Down
-Goobies
-Witless Bay
-Tickle Cove
-Tickle Harbour
-Comfort Cove
-Conception Bay
-Red Head Cove
-Heart's Delight
-Virgin Cove
-Push Through
-Lady Cove
-Deadman's Bay
-Bareneed

Cappy said...

Summer home of Joe Biden!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The odds are way more of these... structures found in nature, and we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

jj121957 said...

Sounds like a call for Meade to step up his game a little.

wild chicken said...

ER docs say: guys, please use one with a flared bottom so it doesn't get "lost" so easily.

Zavier Onasses said...

First became aware of the name when listening to Tony Horowitz' book A Voyage Long and Strange. Enroute to early Viking settlement at L'anse aux Meadows: "...passed a road sign advertising the Dildo B. and B."

CStanley said...

Imagine without shrinkage!

JK Brown said...

Reminds me of the hazing we gave a guy after the first cruise on the training ship, who while on bow lookout reported a "large protuberance" sticking out of the water. It wasn't anything so dramatic, but the training officer did ask "a what?".

However, sailing up the Inside Passage to Alaska, you did have to be careful of protuberances and deadheads (logs that were adrift) that made a hell of a racket on on a steel ship but could wreck a wooden one.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Btw. Dildo is not just a place. It's the constant attempt to get my comments as near the top of the pile as my available time allows.

To paraphrase, what's his name: 'To see what's atop of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.'

Fun fact: Dildos are naturally relatively cold, and AI operates best in a cold environment.

I don't have time to take that any further, at this juncture.

The iceberg’s pronouns are He/Him. Chuckle.

Narayanan said...

In an interview Friday, Pretty said he noticed from his very first photograph that the iceberg, in an area of the province known as Conception Bay, had online potential.
=======
need to set up webcam watch for UFO trying to mate with it!

n.n said...

There's squaw valley, which is supposed to mean pussy.

The crescent of fertility.

Narr said...

I've had some John Barth books on my re-read list for a while. Thanks for the reminder!

Postmodernism is just a term that can mean anything; I recall reading Barth's books with pleasure, which is all that counts in the end.

I've heard of a lover's icy fingers, but an iceprick . . .

gspencer said...

On occasion AA's blog becomes puerile or revealing of her prurient interests, or both.

Magson said...

I'm told that in Hindi that "dil" means "heart" and "do" means "give" and as such, "dildo" means "I give you my heart" and is an expression of love.

walter said...

Ken Pretty was immediately drawn to the strange shape.

The Vault Dweller said...

This is what happens if you don't go and see your doctor if you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours.

Rusty said...

Yes. Dildo Newfoundland. Just up the road from Come-By-Chance and right next to Goobies. I've been to all those places. All on beautiful Placentia Bay.

Kevin said...

Lili Von Shtupp: Oh. It's twue. It's twue. It's twue, it's twue!

Dave Begley said...

Where's Laslo?

YoungHegelian said...

Oh, those wacky Scots!

“The language was also shamelessly intimate and earthy: passersby were addressed as “honey” and children as “little shits.” They dubbed local landmarks Gallows Branch or Cutthroat Gap or Shitbritches Creek (in North Carolina). In Lunenberg County, Virginia, they even named two local streams Tickle Cunt Branch and Fucking Creek.”

― Arthur Herman, How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It

YoungHegelian said...

Also, for every Early Music fan, the best known use of the "dildo" refrain:

Will You Buy a Fine Dog

Thomas Morley, First Book of Ayres, 1600

madAsHell said...

Jimmy Hendrix.

Jimi!!!! Don't you know anything!! /sarc

James K said...

Then of course there's the Dupont Circle metro station, often referred to as the Martha Washington Monument for the, well, complementary shape of its entrance vis-a-vis the Washington Monument.

Enigma said...

Japan's penis and vagina festivals (and temples) approve.

https://www.kanpai-japan.com/kawasaki/kanamara-matsuri

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCIjjvl1JQE

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Luke 19:40 “... I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”

That's prophesy right there. Isn't it? I could be wrong... which in a way undercuts the point I'm trying to make.

"hold their peace" - fear of speaking out, censorship.

"stones crying out" - The elements and James Webb are telling something and were too hardened and distracted to see it.

Lawnerd said...

One day while I was a post-doc, my mentor pissed me off. After he left the lab I shouted out that my mentor was a “hairy scrotum!” The room suddenly became deathly quiet for a minute until a petite female Chinese colleague said “What is hairy scrotum?” Don’t know why but this dildo post and iceberg made me think of this event after 30 years.

Josephbleau said...

As nature shows in this picture, girth is preferred over length. I don't know from experience as I am in the (1,1) group. My cohort of girls is confounded.

rwnutjob said...

I posted that story on Twitter & they flagged the content for "dildo"
Appealed it just because, but nothing.
All the while, there are account's that post fellatio videos all day.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rusty said...

holdfast.
I've been to most of those places. mainly because you have to drive through them to get to Cornerbrook or Gander.
The most surreal thing is to drive through the muskeg and over a hill and find a huge modern oil refinery at the head of Placentia bay.