tallywhacker

== English == === Alternative forms === tallywacker === Etymology === Uncertain. Possibly from tally (“mate, counterpart”), from Middle English taly (“a tally stick”), from Anglo-Norman tallie, Old French taillee, taillie, from Medieval Latin tallia, talia, taillia, from Latin talea (“stick, twig”), or alternatively from tail, + wag, likely influenced by whack, +‎ -er. Compare tallywag, an eighteenth century dialect term meaning “penis”. Attested as tallywhacker or tallywacker since the twentieth century. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtæliˌ(h)wækɚ/ === Noun === tallywhacker (plural tallywhackers) (slang) Penis ==== References ==== “tallywag; occ. tarriwag”, in Eric Partridge, The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang, 2006. “tallywhacker”, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language fifth edition, 2016.