Diddle?

[Torsten]

Hi, how does the word 'diddle' sound to you? I mean, can have a rather vulgar connotation, can't it? It's funny because in Europe the "Diddle Mouse" is a household name. Maybe the name was chosen for people who don't speak English as their native language?
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Alan]

Hi Torsten,

'Diddle' to me means cheat or con. This is what you say when you've bought something and realise you've been charged too much: I've been diddled.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Words, words, words...

[Yankee]

.
I have to admit that the very first thing that came to mind when I saw the title of your thread was this well-known nursery rhyme:

[nomisyar]

I have friends... acquaintances really, who use the word diddle in a strictly sexual sense. It is slang / code for heavy petting. I have... I mean my friends; have never really used it for anything else. I have heard it used in a less vulgar way to describe "messing with something with no real interest" or fiddling with something. If I saw a person under the hood of a car tugging at different parts, and I knew that the person had no real idea of how to fix the car, I might say "Hey, why are you diddling with the engine? Or, why are you diddling the engine? But that second use drips of innuendo. So, I think this slang use of diddle, comes from the use fiddle: (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fiddle)(def. # 6, 7, 8 & 11).

[Yankee]

Hi nomisyar

Would you agree that it tends to be men rather than women who use that word with a vulgar meaning?
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[nomisyar]

I can only speak for the people with whom I have used this word, it is often used in mixed company as well as in an all male environment. Used in an all female environment, that I do not know.

[Yankee]

.
Well, I guess I wouldn't have heard this usage in an all male context either.
Actually, I've only rarely heard it used that way. I don't use the word with the vulgar meaning at all, and only occasionally use it to mean 'waste time' or 'fiddle around'. I suppose that may explain why the nursery rhyme was the first thing that came to my mind.
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English