Pizzle

Bull pizzle cut into small pieces for dogs to chew

Pizzle is a Middle English word for penis, derived from Low German pesel or Flemish Dutch pezel, diminutive of the Dutch language pees, meaning 'sinew'.[1][2] The word is used today to signify the penis of an animal,[3] chiefly in Australia and New Zealand.[4]

Bull pizzle

The word pizzle is also known, at least since 1523, especially in the combination "bull pizzle", to denote a flogging instrument made from a bull's penis.

In William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1, the character Falstaff uses the term as an insult (Act 2, Scene IV):[5]

'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stock-fish!

  1. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  2. ^ Harper, Douglas. "pizzle (n.)". www.etymonline.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Beijing Olympics 2008 in short". The Daily Telegraph. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 August 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  4. ^ "pizzle". OED.
  5. ^ "The First part of King Henry the Fourth - SCENE IV. The Boar's-Head Tavern, Eastcheap". shakespeare.mit.edu. Retrieved 27 November 2017.