I'm preparing for an upcoming presentation for a class on Richard Nixon and Watergate. Nixon was given the name "Tricky Dick." The name "Dick" as a nickname for someone named Richard was very common. I happened to mention this to a younger teacher in my office and they thought I was joking.
The word "dick" nowadays refers to male genitalia in a negative way. The use of the word "dick" in "Private dick" (a detective) does not seem related…at least I couldn't see any connection.
When and why did the word "dick" change from a common nickname to an almost exclusive reference to male genitalia?
Please note, I am not interested in the etymology of the word. I want to know why the word has almost completely shifted meaning. Was there a popular event or phrase that shifted the meaning? The only other word that comes to mind in this way is "gay," which the dictionary still defines as "happy" and used to be used a lot but is now almost completely relegated to the meaning "homosexual." A quick search under "Nixon campaign button" on Google provides many results which currently would be unacceptable for use but at the time were quite OK. Here is a link. Here is another.
Best Answer
According to Grammopgobia the usage of the sexual connotation of "dick" Maverick have spread during the '50s and '60s as a consequence of verbal usage usages common at that time such as "dick around" and "dick off". And as suggested by Wikipedia this usage spread later in comedies and with the Internet - Actor and internet personality Wil Wheaton has written on the subject of Wheaton's Law, which states "don't be a dick". The phrase was in use before Wheaton's blog post, in the 1988 movie Heathers for example.