G'day Uncle DaveO,

Liz the Sqeak's cryptic "... Seven long years since I saw my Willie-o..." does remind me of one usage of the double entendre Willie that may date back most of your "... in my own lifetime (75)...
".

I remember a collection of "Saucy Seaside Postcards" including (amongst those by a particularly well-known and early supplier of such) a fat man at the seaside speaking to a little boy along the lines of: "Willie ... I had a little Willie myself - but I haven't seen him for years." I think the example came from the 1930s ... but I don't have the book in front of me.

Anyway, the best way to date this usage of "Willie" would be to look for this meaning in the full (22 volumes ... ?) Oxford English Dictionary and find the earliest citation of this sense. That will give an earliest 'provable' date - but may be much later than earleist use in common speech.

I'll see if my Concise Oxford Dictionary has the usage ... when I get home.

(Hmmmm... Snuffy's post arrived as I was posting this ... that wartime 'insult' could well be the source of the later double entendre ... and that would make it ~ 90 years old.

Regards,

Bob