dork

Etymology 1

US 1960s, sense of "silly person" presumably from earlier use as bowdlerization of dick (“penis”) in student slang, particularly Midwest. Alternative etymology derives from dialectal Norwegian dorg (“a mass; heap; a heavy, dimwitted, slovenly person”).

noun

  1. (derogatory, slang) A quirky, silly and/or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends and typically has unfashionable hobbies. Often confused with nerd and geek, but does not imply the same level of intelligence.
    I entitled the piece "Dorky", dork being slang for a person who does not belong to popular groups, usually an outsider, an odd person, sometimes inept, other times cranky. 1962, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Last year at Marienbad, page 167
    I didn’t have any clothes and I had short hair and looked like a dork. Girls wouldn’t go out with me. 1967, Don Moser and Jerry Cohen, The Pied Piper of Tucson
  2. (vulgar, slang) The penis.
    As a matter of fact, this slob was full of information today. He told me why we Jews have different dorks. 1962, Jerome Weidman, The Sound of Bow Bells, page 362
    "You’re dead, Trashmouth," Vince “Boogers” Taliendo told him, pulling his jock up over a dork roughly the size and shape of an anemic peanut. 1986, Stephen King, It
    "There's that dork whose wife cut off his dork." And when people ask him for an autograph he writes, "Best of luck to Betsy. Signed, the guy whose wife cut off his penis." 2005, Mike Judge, Reading Sucks: The Collected Works of Beavis and Butthead

Etymology 2

Uncertain; apparently from Scots. See dirk.

noun

  1. (archaic) Alternative form of dirk (“a long dagger”)

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