tallywag

T1A1L1L1Y4W4A1G2

noun

A testicle.

First used 17th c.Scrabble 15

Meanings

nountallywag (plural tallywags)

plural tallywags · alternative tarriwag · alternative tarrywag · alternative tarrywock

  1. archaicin pluralslangA testicle.First known use 17th c.

    And not forget that Pious Prince / Whose Tarriwags it held long since. / What tho’ that Codpiece’s dimension, / Shows something was of large extention

    1715, Samuel Butler, Posthumous Works in Prose and Verse, page 17‑18
    1 more example

    But any more lip like that and it's not the crack of this slingshot pebble that you'll feel but a fist curling your teeth and these clogs kicking your tallywags up into your mouth to meet them.

    2017, Benjamin Myers, The Gallows Pole, Bloomsbury, published 2019, page 10

    Synonyms: testicles, testes, acorns, agates, apples, apricots, bags, ballocks

  2. archaicslangThe penis.First known use 19th c.

    Mrs. Hemstock (rather faintly): I canna abide to feel a man’s arms shiverin’ agen me. It ma’es me feel like a tallywag post hummin’.

    1941, D.H. Lawrence, The Merry-Go-Round, act I, scene 1

    Synonyms: anaconda, baloney pony, bald-headed hermit, banana, bird, birdie, bobby, boonga

  3. uncommonThe black sea bass, Centropristis striata.

    These are our five favorites: Black Sea Bass ¶ Also called black perch, rock bass, chub, and tallywag

    2014, Bernard Guillas, Ronald Oliver, Two Chefs, One Catch: A Culinary Exploration of Seafood, page 220
    1 more example

    72. CENTROPRISTIS STRIATA. (the black sea-bass, black-fish, tally-wag, hannahill, black-will, black harry)

    1890, David Starr Jordan, Carl Eigenmann, A Review of the Genera and Species of Serranidae Found in the Waters of America and Europe, page 391

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

Unknown. Possibly a compound of tally (“a corresponding half”, noun) + wag (verb).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tallywag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tallywag

MLA

“tallywag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tallywag. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tallywag,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tallywag.

Source: tallywag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.