Interesting. So where did I pick up this old joke from? Possibly from Reddit, they are always trying to skew reality. O.K. But how about Old English and not late Old English?

Old English:

In Old English, “wer” specifically referred to an adult male human. It was commonly used before the word “man” took on the meaning of an adult male person.

Old High German:

Similar to Old English, in Old High German, “wer” also meant “man.” This reflects a common linguistic heritage among Germanic languages.

Old Norse:

In Old Norse, the cognate term is “verr,” which also translates to “man.”

Gothic:

The Gothic language uses the term “waír,” which is another cognate meaning “man.”

Middle High German:

The term evolved into Middle High German as “wër,” retaining its meaning of “man.”

Proto-Germanic:

The root form “*weraz” in Proto-Germanic is believed to be the origin of these terms across various Germanic languages.

Latin and Gaelic Cognates:

While not directly using the term “wer,” Latin (“vir”) and Gaelic (“fear”) share a similar meaning related to manhood or masculinity.

You can, un-wag that dog now. ‡.̗̀́