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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DODDLE, n. Also doadle. [′do(:)dəl, ′dǫdəl]

†1. A hard pellet of dirt which forms on the tail of a sheep.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 191:
Nae wadder fleet can ower them jump . . . Wi' rattling doddles arset stump.

2. The male genitals (Sc. 18th cent. Merry Muses (1800); Cai.¹ c.1920; Cai.⁷ 1940; Ags. c.1922 (per Ags.¹⁸)); gen. in pl. Hence doddled.Sc. 1721 Women's Indictment 4:
As free of Grace, as free of Boddles, Seiz'd on an honest Burger's D-s.Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 162:
And that's a stab, and that's a strainer, and that's a flag dyke, and that's a bull, and that's his doadles hinging doon.Mearns³ c.1928:
A married man with no family was said to be dum doddled.

Comb.: dog's doddles, the spotted orchis, Orchis maculata (Cai.⁹ 1948). Cf. Eng. dogstones, orchis.

3. A small lump of home-made toffee sold in the “wee” shops in Edinburgh, usually four for a halfpenny; a super-doddle cost one farthing (Edb.³ 1929; Edb. 1948 (per Abd.²⁷)). Hence used of something easy or attractive (Edb.⁵, Lnk.¹¹ 1940) or of “money easily obtained” (Gsw. 1934 E. Partridge Dict. of Slang (1937)).Edb. 1948 (per Abd.²⁷):
See yon car! It's a doddle! Can ye no swim? Man, it's a doddle.