Dude, you've got to listen to this. A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper all about the w
And he says it's much more than a catchall phrase for lazy surfers, slackers and teenagers.
The author, Scott Kiesling, says that historically, dude originally meant "old rags" and a "dudesman" was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a "dude" was akin to a "dandy," a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. The word actually became cool in the 1930s, and really began its rise into the teenage vocabulary with the 1981 movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
To decode the word's meaning, Kiesling did research and had college students write down the first 20 times they heard "dude" during a three-day period. He found that the word has many uses--let me put on my fraternity sweater and give a few a try:
The bottom line is that the word shows no signs of disappearing as more and more of our culture becomes youth-centered--and dude, that's just fine with me.
The author, Scott Kiesling, says that historically, dude originally meant "old rags" and a "dudesman" was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a "dude" was akin to a "dandy," a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. The word actually became cool in the 1930s, and really began its rise into the teenage vocabulary with the 1981 movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
To decode the word's meaning, Kiesling did research and had college students write down the first 20 times they heard "dude" during a three-day period. He found that the word has many uses--let me put on my fraternity sweater and give a few a try:
- There's the greeting: "What's up, dude?"
- The exclamation: "Whoa, dude!"
- The sympathy: "Dude, I'm so sorry."
- The one-up: "That's so lame, dude."
- And finally, the term for agreement, surprise, and disgust. simply, "duuuude."
The bottom line is that the word shows no signs of disappearing as more and more of our culture becomes youth-centered--and dude, that's just fine with me.
