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The term dude is an American Englishslang word generally used informally to address a male individual. The word was once used primarily by adults but has become a common slang term used in various age groups. The female equivalent, less often used, is "dudette". However the term dude has evolved to become a more unisex term to encompass all genders, and was even true in the 1950's during the word's older definitions.
Usage
Historically, the word usually has been used as a noun describing a type of man or as an interjection. The tone and inflection of the word "dude" are used to convey the various meanings. For example someone may be a "surfer dude," or a short, clipped "dude!" may convey annoyance with someone, while a long, drawn-out "duuuude" conveys amazement. Dude is slang similar to the phrase "man" and is used in sentences such as "Dude, that was awesome!"
"Dude" is also used alone in a sentence as an interjection denoting a feeling of surprise, happiness, disappointment, amazement or other emotions. The word might also be used practically anywhere in a sentence in order to convey such sentiments in conversation, as in 'Listen dude, we have to go'.
Other, older definitions of dude exist; a particularly well-dressed male or one who is unfamiliar with life outside a large city. These definitions may go hand-in-hand, hence the phrased definition "An Easterner in the West" (United States).
A new slang term, "dudeman" was created by adding the noun "man" on the end of the original slang term. This form of "dude" is primarily used by teenagers and young adults to address a male individual. ex. "Dudeman, can you hand me a slice of that pizza?" "Dude, wheres my car?" "DUDE! You ate my last skittle!"
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Dude in popular culture
1883 - Political cartoon of Chester Alan Arthur pictures the refined, well-dressed President, with the caption, "According to your cloth you've cut your coat, O Dude of all the White House residents; We trust that will help you with the vote, When next we go nominating Presidents."
1889 - Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome refers to dudes: "It is the town of showy hotels, patronized chiefly by dudes and ballet girls."
1889 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, talks about how commoners in Medieval Britain worshiped nobility and title without question, for the sake only of a meaningless title: "... and the best of English commoners was still content to see his inferiors impudently continuing to hold a number of positions, such as lordships and the throne, to which the grotesque laws of his country did not allow him to aspire; in fact, he was even able to persuade himself that he was proud of it. It seems to show that there isn't anything you can't stand, if you are only born and bred to it. Of course that taint, that reverence for rank and title, had bee in our American blood, too - I know that; but when I left America it had disappeared - at least to all intents and purposes. The remnant of it was restricted to the dudes and dudesses. When a disease has worked its way down to that level, it may fairly be said to be out of the system."
1898 - Some Dudes Can Fight, an early silent film in which a Bowery young man starts a fight with another gentleman.
1932 - Dave the Dude, a character in one of the short stories contained in "Guys and Dolls" a book, written by Damon Runyon.
1933 - The Dude Bandit, a western in which Tod 'Ace' Carter, played by Hoot Gibson, defeats the evil moneylender Hooper Atchley, played by Al Burton.
1959 - Rio Bravo, a western in which a sheriff (John Wayne) and deputies, including a drunk named "Dude" (Dean Martin), defeat the bad guys.
1978 - Big Wednesday, a film drama depicting the surfer life in the '60s and '70s.
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. Dude also appears frequently in the popular animated television seriesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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'.
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."
1989 - On February 17, 1989 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, introduced Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as Ted "Theodore" Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esq., two righteous band dudes, bringing dude to an even wider audience. Ted uses the word "dude" ten times in the first fifteen minutes. The next day on February 18 the first segment of the "Wayne's World" skit aired on Saturday Night Live.
1993 - Adam Sandler's comedy album "They're All Gonna Laugh at You" features the track "Buddy", in which several characters have a conversation composed almost entirely of the words, "Buddy", "Homie", and "Dude".
1994 - In the television showFriends, the male characters, Ross, Joey and Chandler, frequently refer to each other as "dude", as a term of endearment and to express shock/surprise.
1997 - " In the television show Teen Angel (1997 TV series), one of the characters, Jordan, was a much known user of the word "dude", using it in every episode appearance. It may well have been his most common word of the series.
1998 - BASEketball, featuring Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as two young men who, at one point in the film, have an argument in which every word is "dude" and the inflection gives meaning.
1998 - The Big Lebowski, featuring Jeff Bridges as "The Dude (or His Dudeness, or Duder, or, you know, El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing)," an aging hippie/beach bum turns "Dude" into a philosophy. The film's narrator, an old-fashioned cowboy played by Sam Elliott, mentions that he considers the term "dude" in its traditional sense, meaning a pretentious city slicker type rather than in the more modern lexicon File:The.Big.Lebowski.1998.Screenshot.1.jpgJeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski in The Big Lebowski.
2001-2003 - The phrase "Dude, you're getting a Dell!" enters mainstream culture in the US thanks to a highly successful ad run by PC maker Dell Inc., featuring the late-teen to early 20's character named Steven, popularly referred to as the Dell Dude.
2004 - Hugo "Hurley" Reyes' catchphrase on the TV show Lost is "Dude", over the first three seasons he said "dude" nearly 200 times.
2008 - The brothers Sam and Dean Winchester in Supernatural frequently refer to each other and various other characters as 'dudes'.
2008 - Bud Light airs a advertising campaign in which the dialogue consists entirely of different inflections of "Dude!" and does not mention the product by name.
