Dude
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Traditionally a dude (pronounced 'düd' (American), or 'dyüd' (British)) is a dandy; a man who dresses flashily. But in recent years, the term has taken on a colloquial meaning at variance with that: it now means a male friend, comrade, or associate. Formerly, the word was associated with Western movies. The new usage entered the mainstream from California surfer slang from at least 1968, referenced in the movie 'Easy Rider', and today is strongly associated with Generation X.
Scott F. Kiesling, a linguist from the University of Pittsburgh, states in a 2003 scholarly paper published in American Speech that "the term is used mainly in situations in which a speaker takes a stance of solidarity or camaraderie, but crucially in a nonchalant, not-too-enthusiastic manner ... The reason young men use this term is precisely that dude indexes this stance of cool solidarity. Such a stance is especially valuable for young men as they navigate cultural Discourses of young masculinity, which simultaneously demand masculine solidarity, strict heterosexuality, and non-conformity."
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Origins
There is no definitive origin of the word dude, but one theory suggests that it was originally short for "Doodle." The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang cites an 1877 reference in an unpublished private letter of the painter and sculptor known for Western themes, Frederick Remington: "Don't send me any more women or any more dudes" he told a correspondent who was sending him sketches. "Dude" first appeared in print in 1878. The word made the rounds of New York City slang of ca 1883, referring to a fastidiously sharp dresser, what the late 18th century would have called a 'macaroni:'
- Yankee Doodle came to town, a-riding on a pony.
- He stuck a feather in his hat and called it "macaroni."
Before dude, the term for such a proper, urban gentleman was a dandy. The "macaroni" in the verse above refers to a particular style of fancy, overtly sophisticated Italian attire worn by dandies. So when Yankee Doodle sticks the feather in his cap and calls it "macaroni", he is ironically proclaiming himself to be a sophisticated dresser. The song was actually written by the British as an insult to the colonists, but the colonists eventually embraced it as their own, showing their pride in their lack of sophistication.
The vogue word of 1883, was quickly applied to dressed-up city slickers, especially Easterners vacationing in the West, who affected elaborate 'Wild West' get-ups as paying visitors at a "dude ranch." The dude in "dude ranch" was a figure of mockery; an urban Easterner affecting the look and lifestyle of the Western cowboy, but only on a temporary basis (i.e.: during his vacation). This dude is a tourist, lacking authenticity, and not deserving of respect. How this term of mockery eventually came into use by 'surfer dudes' is unclear. Did the surfers adopt this term of mockery, just as the colonial dandies had, turning it into a sincere term of respect for each other? Or was it transformed by actual cowboys, and then later adopted by the surfers?
Interestingly, as dude has once again entered the pop lexicon over the last three decades it has taken the form of mockery, irony, and finally, nearly complete acceptance. In its current usage, dude has crossed the gender barrier, and indeed it is easier to describe whom the term does not apply to, than who it does.
Crossing the Gender Barrier
Though dude had been applied to women as early as the mid-70's, its use came to a tipping point somewhere in the mid-80's. Attempts to establish dudette as the feminine form utterly failed (the original term for a fine-looking woman among Hawaiian surfers, wahine, never established itself either) and it is is now a fact that dude, at least in the prescriptive sense, can refer to both men and women. Perhaps the first mainstream display of this usage appeared in the movie Less Than Zero, in which there is a scene where a young woman defiantly tells her mother, "No way, dude!". Indeed, even American Heritage Dictionary recognizes this in its dude definition 3.b. (http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/D0414600.html), that "dudes" are "Persons of either sex". According to Jesse Sheidlower, the North American editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a topic of interest amongst linguists and lexicographers whether dude in the descriptive ("that dude"), rather than the prescriptive ("hey dude") sense can be applied to both men and women (See The Sexual Transmigration of Dude (http://www.vagablogging.net/archives/001542.shtml)).
A riff on "dude"
Depending on the tone and body language used, dude can mean:
- Hey! Look over here! (DUDE!)
- Shame on you! (Duuuuude [with head shaking])
- Are you ok? (Dude?)
- Wake up. (dooooooooode)
- That is very cool! (doooode)
- Oh my God. [expressing shock] (duuuude...)
- Please? (Duuuuude? [in whining tone])
This use of the term with body language was probably best demonstrated in the 1998 movie BASEketball where the two lead characters have an entire argument consisting entirely of the word "dude" with various inflections.
Coop: Dude, I'm not gonna cave in! End of story, dude!
Remer: Duuude??
Coop: Dude!
Remer: Dude!!
Coop: Dude.
Remer: Dude!
Coop: DUDE!
Remer: Duude!!
[Coop opens his mouth but says nothing. Remer continues firmly]
Remer: Dude.
Coop: [speechless, mouths around for something to say]
I guess you got a point there. All right all right, look.
Maybe I was wrong. From now on... we're full partners.
Remer: Really?
Dude in pop culture
The term dude became prominent in surfer culture in the early '60s, but it wasn't until the mid-'70s that it started creeping into the mainstream. The following is an attempt to list the major pop culture events that have contributed to the spread of this remarkable word, in chronological order.
- 1933 - The Dude Bandit, a western in which Hoot Gibson defeats the evilegal rustler Burton.
- 1966 - Endless Summer, a documentary featuring the bohemian lifestyle of the surfer, including a soundtrack featuring the Beach Boys.
- 1972 - "All the Young Dudes", a hit single performed by Mott the Hoople, written by David Bowie.
- 1973 - Dude, a musical play by Galt MacDermot.
- 1978 - Big Wednesday, a film drama depicting the surfer life in the '60s and '70s.
- 1982 - Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a wildly successful teen comedy/drama featuring Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli, the quintessential surfer dude. A sarcastic, but warm treatment, this film is largely responsible for the first wave of the mainstreaming of 'dude'.
- 1980s - Dude enters the mainstream via multiple surfer dude spoofs in film. It spreads rapidly with skateboard culture which is a direct descendant of surf culture, but is not restricted by geography. Sometime mid-decade dude crosses the gender barrier.
- 1985 - Less Than Zero (written by Brett Easton Ellis) is first to use the overused phrase, "No way, dude!", and the first mainstream display of dude having crossed the gender barrier. In a noteworthy scene a young woman tells her mother, "No way, dude."
- 1987 - "Dude Looks Like a Lady" by Aerosmith tops the charts. The punk western film Dudes is released.
- 1989 - On February 17, 1989 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, introduced Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as Ted Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esq., two righteous band dudes, bringing dude to an even wider audience. Ted uses the word "dude" 10 times in the first 15 minutes, and doesn't ever let up. The next day on February 18 the first segment of the "Wayne's World" skit aired on Saturday Night Live;
- 1998 - The Big Lebowski, featuring Jeff Bridges as "The Dude". An aging hippie/beach bum turns Dude into a philosophy.
- 2000 - Dude, Where's My Car?, features Ashton Kutcher and Sean William Scott, as two sweet dudes who lose their car.
See also
External links
- Dude (http://www.pitt.edu/~kiesling/dude/dude.html) - A paper submitted to American Speech.
- Dude, Where’s My Dude? (http://www.vagablogging.net/archives/001542.shtml) - Dudelicious Dissection, From Sontag to Spicoli
- Words@random: (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010621) "dude"