Dickey or Dicky

A donkey; anciently called a Dick-ass, now termed Jack-ass. It is a term of endearment, as we call a pet bird a dicky-bird. The ass is called Dick-y (little Richard), Cuddy (little Cuthbert), Neddy (little Edward), Jack-ass, Moke or Mike, etc.

Dickey. The rumble behind a carriage; also a leather apron, a child’s bib, and a false shirt or front. All these are from the same root. (Dutch, dekken; German, decken; Anglo-Saxon, thecan; Latin, tego, to cover.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.