Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity!
Padiddle - pa*didd*le n Also bediddle, padoodle, padungle, perdiddle, perdiddo Cf cockeye piddle = cockeye. 1959 in 1980 Koch Folkl KS 6, If a fellow sees a car coming with only one light and says, “padiddle,” he may kiss his girl. If she sees it first and says, “padiddle,” she may slap the boy. [Offered by 5 female infs] 1968 DARE FW Addit cwIN, In high school--[pe-didl]--to be spoken on seeing a car with only one headlight burning, especially on dates. Whoever says it first gets to kiss who she/he wants; “a game.” 1980 Hand Coll. WA, Padungle [if you see the] backlight. 1985 DARE File WI (as of 1960s), In Madison, Wisconsin, when young people in cars saw a car with only one headlight approaching, the one who said “padiddle” first won a kiss from his “date.” The one-headlight car thus became a “padiddle.”
“Raise your hand if you played Padiddle in high school.” *raises hand*
“Funny how you think things like padiddle are just mindless games until you realize they have a history.”
“The rules have changed since padiddle started in the old days. Now it’s strip padiddle.”
Please share and comment on today’s Dictomancy and feel free to post your uses for the words in a positive, lighthearted way. Audience participation makes Everyday Wordplay hilarious!
Works Cited
Cassidy, Frederic G. Chief Editor. Dictionary Of American Regional English. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985. Print