Talk:dipstick
Etymology[edit]
I don't have evidence, but I just want to comment as a native English speaker that I am skeptical of the etymology given (euphemism for dipshit, a word which Wiktionary says arose around 1960).
The reason I say this is that there used to be full service gas stations throughout the U.S. where the attendants would routinely check oil using an actual dipstick. The occupation was famously low-prestige; mothers would tell their children that if they didn't study they'd end up working at a gas station. A snooty patron might be tempted to refer to the attendant as a "dipstick", perhaps. Alternatively, the attendant would be vulnerable to a unique humiliation, which would be to forget to put the dipstick back in the car and let a patron drive off without it, which would inevitably come back to haunt him. Just one or two episodes of that might lead to him being nicknamed "Dipstick", whether as hazing or simply to remind him rudely.
In theory, the spread of such a term would likely require a vehicle, such as a popular film, and a diligent search of all film transcripts might turn up something to prove this. Wnt (talk) 15:51, 6 March 2016 (UTC)
- I wonder whether dippy is related in some way. Equinox ◑ 15:54, 6 March 2016 (UTC)