GratuitousRex

Male bonding: Insults

“Fuckface,” “Numbnuts,” “Dickhead.” To the layman, these could be insults. But for many men who are good friends,  these are greetings, like “dude,” “chap” or ‘fella.”

When you’re able to take an insult from a friend as a joke, and have the freedom to dish it out, where the context is cameraderie, that’s a-whole-nother level of friendship,  my friends.

Here’s my favorite example:
I don’t know if this was localized to where I grew up in Queens NY, but my friends and I grew up (teens) calling each other “dick.” As did many of the other boys in the neighborhood.

Ok, it’s not exactly like that. It’s not like “hey man,  you’re a dick!” That’s an insult,  most likely, but not necessarily.

The way I’m talking it’s after someone screwed something up,  kind of like an afterthought “Ok there,  dick” where there’s a lot of smarm, the “dick” is slightly muffled and garbled so it almost sounds a little like “derk.”

It was not an insult. It was a perfectly acceptable way of goofing on someone., and being goofed on was acceptable.

Then it progressed so nothing had to happen. We just said “Heydick!” “Dick!”
“Bob’sadick!” “you’readick!” “MmmmmmmmmDick!” just for the hell of it. The word is an insult,  but just used as a playful jab from good friends.

And afterwards, after the “dick” session was over,  we’d all just crack up, for no reason other than the fact that we were acknowledging the silliness.

We said “dick” to each other a lot.

Now, the boys have grown up to have  wives, kids, ex-wives, jobs and careers, mortgages, car payments, 401ks and savings, receding hairlines, bigger guts, etc. 

You know… “age” and “responsibilities.”

But every so often we get together. We in our early 40s/late 30s, catching up, seeing how we’re doing and how getting older is working for us. Enjoying food and drinks.

And eventually,  someone starts saying  “mmmmmmmmmdick” and then they start flying fast and furious.

After about two minutes,  the uproar of laughter comes. A fun call back to our youth in Queens NY.

Anyone have similar things they do with their friends? Feel free to share.

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28 comments

  2. Among my circle of friends wr grew up calling each other “assholes”. Anytime it was said it was a term of endearment meaning we took no crap from anyone and stood by our resolve. That or the best way to get each others attention. Good times

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I recently attended an alumni meet of old school buddies… we hadn’t met in 11 years. This post, esp this line “the boys have grown up to have wives, kids, ex-wives, jobs and careers, mortgages, car payments, 401ks and savings, receding hairlines, bigger guts, etc. ” reminded me of the meet…..
    good piece!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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