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The word whistle, used to refer to a high-pitched instrument,听goes back to Old English, while the actual object (as a means to make music or signals) dates back to prehistoric times. The whistle entered sports by the 1870s, and was used for starting or stopping a game.

The word whistle, for making music by blowing through the lips, is found by the 1400s, though certainly cavemen were whistling鈥攊ncluding wolf whistling, which is when lusty men (wolves) holler at attractive women.

By the 1600s, a different kind of whistle was being blown. It became slang for “penis,” as seen in the “whistle and bells” in a William Byrd poem. You can guess what the bells mean. This slang continued into the 21st century, as rapper Flo Rida asked in his 2012 track “Whistle”: “Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby?” Again, we think you can guess what he means by blow.

By the late 1990s, whistle also emerged in Black slang as “firearm,” presumably due to its likeness (in both shape and loud sound) to the instrument. The TV drama听The Wire听popularized the term in the 2000s, referring to a whistle squad and bringing one’s whistle to a confrontation听on episodes.