 However, she resorts to using a glass dildo as he finds himself unable to perform sexually to her satisfaction.Dildos are humorously mentioned in Act IV, scene iv of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale".This play and Ben Jonson's play "The Alchemist" (1610) are typically cited as the first use of the word in publication (Nashe's "Merrie Ballad" was not published until 1899).