When I was in fourth grade, a rumor went around that "bike" was a French word for "penis." This probably came from the "bike cup" that one buys in sporting goods stores. For several months, saying someone "just got a new bike" or telling them to "grab your bike" could get a laugh out of any of us. Was this just a local thing?
I know of several other things like this, in which a random word is said to be French (or simply code) for something sexual - the famous example all over the Des Moines Metro Area was that "shut up" meant "meet me in bed in five minutes." This was hilarious to fifth graders and groan-inducing to middle schoolers.
I distinctly recall "bike" being a penis euphemism around the time when I was in third and fourth grade in southern Connecticut during the early 1970's, and I have not heard it in actual use since, not even among the children I worked with as a summer and day camp counselor, and those were some filthy-minded kids.
ReplyDeleteIn common use where I grew up on LI (Jericho-Syosset) in the mid-late 70's. Thanks for taking me back!
ReplyDelete"Did you lock up your bike? Hawhawhaw!"
In Maryland in the early 1980's, kids at my school said "bike" was German for penis. And that "riding a bike" meant to touch yourself.
ReplyDeleteWe had that in upstate NY back in the mid 1980s, as well.
ReplyDeleteI remember that "foot" was a vagina for some odd reason......maybe came from the Yiddish "futz"
ReplyDelete(Upstate NY 1980's)
In elementary school in Baldwin, New York, guys used to go up to each other and ask, "What color is your bike?" My bicycle, or bike, was yellow, so the kid who was asking me would go into a laughing fit and say "Your bike is YELLOW????!!!", and laugh some more. Then, he would explain to me, "Don't you know what a 'bike' is??? It's yer DICK!!!!!!"
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, let me add that that was in the late 60s and very early 70s. By the way, the bike of choice back then was what we called a "stingray", the kind with the high-rise handlebars and the "banana seat". Hmmmmm. Banana seat. Could that possibly be the reason????......
ReplyDeleteEvergreen Park, south side of Chicago~ BIKE meant penis to us kids around 1978- until I moved to the suburbs in 1986. The burb kids had never heard of it!~
ReplyDelete'70's Northern California. Bike = Dick: check.
ReplyDeleteWe had "dude" which meant a cows dick. We would ask our friends, "how's it hangin' dude?" The response would be, "about ten feet." (with a cowboy drawl)
ReplyDeleteThe we had one that a "dexter" was a monkey dick.