Dykes

Nobody cares where you put your nasty fingers, either in dykes or in your boyfriends. ❋ Unknown (2010)

First Nations said ... remember when rolerderby was great big honkin 'dykes who played to kill? ❋ MJ (2006)

During that time we have had to dash about plugging holes in dykes, holes that might have let a savage foe through to deal a mortal blow. ❋ Unknown (1942)

It makes me laff that Randi Rhodes calls dykes “vagitarians.” ❋ Unknown (2006)

From a functional point of view, I guess that you could call dykes "wire cutters", just as you could call a shovel a "post hole digger". ❋ Unknown (2005)

I'm not sure how reliable these memories are, since the issue was never very important to me, but I'm pretty sure that I remember encountering this tool, referred to as dykes/dikes, in my father's toolbox and in the toolboxes of friend's fathers or big brothers, by the time I was 6 or 8 years old, i.e. in the middle 1950s. ❋ Unknown (2005)

Pending any unfortunate necessity for breaking through the dykes and letting loose the waters, it may be observed in passing that the effectual maintenance of the dykes is a constant anxiety, and entails strenuous exertions. ❋ P. M. Hough (N/A)

It went straight for two miles, fenced from the fields in many parts by low stone walls without mortar, abhorrent to the eye of Cosmo; in other parts by walls of earth, called dykes, which delighted his very soul. ❋ George MacDonald (1864)

Plus, Vermont was in the same general region as where Alix, Liza and their kind of dykes were also "living in the country". ❋ Maggie Jochild (2007)

Large infrastructure projects such as dykes, dams, waterways, roads, etc. represent a great threat to the flora and fauna of Argentina. ❋ Unknown (2007)

However, for some reason I always assumed it was "dykes", although I think I knew this word as a child before I ever heard the slang word for lesbian. ❋ Unknown (2005)

In my experience as a child working on bicycles and later cars with my friends, as a mechanic in the army, and hanging around electronics technicians at Bell Labs, "dykes" was as common as a term as hacksaw or chisel. ❋ Unknown (2005)

Now, googling "diagonal cutting pliers, dykes" without the quotes gets me 367 hits, while changing "dykes" to "dikes" almost doubles the number, to 706, so there may be a slight preference for the latter spelling, but both the totals and the difference between them are small enough that it's impossible to tell. ❋ Unknown (2005)

A Language Log post by Mark Liberman introduces me to a very interesting word which he spells "dykes," meaning 'diagonal cutting pliers' "as a tool term, dykes is always plural, like scissors". ❋ Unknown (2005)

In that flat district, the fields are not divided by hedges, as in most parts of England, or by stone walls -- "dykes," as they are termed in Ireland -- such as are employed in Derbyshire and several other stony localities, but by channels, which have a strong individuality of their own. ❋ Various (N/A)

► And then there was the initial refusal of the trademark office to register "Dykes on Bikes" because it found "dykes" to be offensive. ❋ Ruthann Robson (2010)

The country is planning for a one-metre (three feet) rise in sea levels by 2100, which would flood about 31,000 square kilometres (12,400 square miles) of land -- an area about the size of Belgium -- unless systems such as dykes are strengthened, said a UN discussion paper released last year. ❋ Unknown (2010)

But, the women protested, since we are lesbians, we can call ourselves "dykes" if we want to, just like black people can use the n-word, or Jewish people can tell Jewish jokes, or Irish people can tell Irish jokes, and so forth. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Not sure about them proposing using "dykes" as protection though. ❋ Unknown (2009)

"Here in Zealand, even more than in other provinces," said he, as seriously as if he were a master giving a lesson, "the dykes are a question of life and death. ❋ Edmondo De Amicis (1877)

The dyke has a [leak], [the river] will [burst] through! ❋ Bisxual Yankee Geek (2003)

[That woman] is a dyke. ❋ Matty N (2004)

Example: Hey, Amanda, are you going to the Pride [March] this weekend? Hell ya! And I am definitely not missing the [Dyke] March. Sarah and her girlfriend are riding in the [Dykes on Bikes] contigent. ❋ Portland Dyke (2006)

"Who's the dyke in [the cowboy] boots?" (Rude and derogatory.) (Source: Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. [Spears].Fourth Edition. © 2007. Published by [McGraw Hill]). ❋ Les Good (2012)

Person 1: Hey bro, Where's [Martha]? She been gone for a long time. Is she being dyked on? Person 2: She went to the [bathroom]. Person 1: She's probably being dyked on. [fosho]! ❋ That Raffy Taffy (2013)

[Ordy] said something about a friendly and [overt] sexual [rivalry] between two of the characters, it ended up with them dyking it out. ❋ EDIthePaintMixer (2018)

❋ Gum Shield (2003)

"Omg, is she really a [dyke]?" "[How dare you] think [I'm straight]! I'm a [DYKE], you idiot!!" ❋ Anna (2004)

Hey Jill did u know Sarah was a [dyke]? By the way i heard Miss [Pebbles] was a [dyking] also? ❋ Miss Pebbles (2003)

❋ Super Love (2003)