Meaning and etymology of the word "dockle"
I've been reading Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and I came across several uses of the word "dockle", usually in the context of light teasing. While I can find some small evidence online of its usage elsewhere, I can't find any actual explanation of its etymology or meaning. The book is set in a lower-class borough of Brooklyn in the early 1900's, if that helps.
My Mom used the term "dockle" frequently. It was always used to mean a socially awkward person. Often clumsy or dim-witted, as well.
She was a first generation German, with immigrant parents from the Schwabia region. My Grandfather landed in Philadelphia around 1900, and my Mom was born in 1914. The household spoke mostly German until around 1925 or so. They referred to themselves as "Schwopes." And "dockel" was something I understood well, as a small kid.
From "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn " by Betty Smith:
When none came, she taunted: "Why don't you bust out crying, you dockle?
The following etymological dictionary says it means "doll" which is probably used in the book as a mocking term:
Dockle:
- Frisian dok, G. docke ; a little bundle as of thread, a wisp of straw, also a doll ; Swabian dockle, a doll ; dokheln, to play with a doll.
A dictionary of English etymology, H. Wedgwood - 1859 - History