Funniest sounding line ever
"He used to be a dick...but he's not a dick anymore!"
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MovieChat Forums > The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Discussion > Funniest sounding line ever
Didn't that once mean "detective?" As in W. C. Fields' *The Bank Dick*
shareYes it did.
shareDoes anyone know where the term, "Dick", for detective originated. I used to figure that it came from the comic strip, Dick Tracy, but didn't W. C. Fields The Bank Dick precede that, and the strip character got his name from the term already in existence?
"What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss?"
You're probably not exactly waiting around with baited breath for this answer anymore, but here it is.
According to The Word Detective (http://www.word-detective.com/090304.html), it may come from the Romany word dik meaning to watch. That's not certain, but you're right...it does pre-date Dick Tracy.
I had to explain this alternate meaning to my 12-year-old son who is only familiar with the use of the word as a man's name, a body part, or an ill-mannered fellow. He assumed it was meant in the third sense in the movie, and was shocked that they would have said it so matter-of-factly in a movie of that time!
I was wrong however in thinking the W.C. Firlds movie was older than the comic strip. Dick Tracy first appearedin 1931 while The Bank Dick came out in 1940.
"Do you mind if I call you Chico?"
He assumed it was meant in the third sense in the movie, and was shocked that they would have said it so matter-of-factly in a movie of that time!
"He used to be a dick... but he's not a dick anymore! Actually quite a decent man now! Got married, had a couple of kids. Lives on Long Island now in a nice townhouse! Yep, a swell guy he is! But back in his day, dicks didn't get no bigger than him, no sir!"
i know that line would be ridiculous nowadays
JeSkuNk
yeah i thought that it was quite amusing when i heard it,, but you gotta remember that times were alot different back then,, and i bet back then it probably didn't get quite the "snicker" that it does today or even 20 years ago.
are you going to bark all day little doggie,, or are you going to bite
The day I had to explain to my kids 'The Gay Divorcee'....
shareTurned out he WAS a dick, and a greedy, dumb one at that!
Seriously, though, back then dick didn't have the connotation it does now -- in noirs, it just meant private detective.