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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 young adults but has become a common slang term used in various age groups. The female equivalent is dudette.
In informal speech, dude is, under certain circumstances, gender-neutral. "Dude" may also be used alone in a sentence, serving as an exclamation, 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. The cadence, volume and length of the word is also used to denote the feeling, such as a clipped "dude" for irritation, or a long "duuude" for amusement, surprise, or wonder.
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).
Origins and common usage
Dude Ranch
Originally "dude" meant a city person in the country, with strong connotations of ignorance of rural ways. The word as used in contemporary culture, typically American, may have had its origins in the Irish , and indeed, dúd in modern Irish is a derogatory term for a foolish person .
One example of this use is "Dude Ranches", ranches built in the western states of America for "Dudes", or city folk to experience "cowboy life". "Dude" was also used in the 1860s-1870s by cowboys to describe a newcomer to the West. TombstoneSherriffJohn Slaughter was thought to be a "dude" when he first arrived in Tombstone.
In the Howard Hawks film "Rio Bravo" from 1959 one of the actors (Dean Martin) is called "Dude".
Dude in popular 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. Some usages in pop culture have contributed to the spread of this word:
1889 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, talks about how commoners in Medieval Britain worshipped 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."
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. Dude also appears frequently in the popular animated television seriesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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 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.
1993 - Adam Sandler's comedy album "They're All Gonna Laugh at You" features the track "Buddy", where several characters have a conversation comprised almost entirely of the words, "Buddy", "Homie", and "Dude".
1994 - In the TV show Friends, the male characters, Ross, Joey and Chandler, frequently refer to each other as "dude", as a term of endearment and to express shock/surprise.
1998 - BASEketball, featuring Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as two young men who at one point in the film have an argument where every word is "dude" and the inflection gives meaning.
2008 - Bud Light airs a respected ad campaign where the dialogue consists entirely of different inflections of "Dude!" and does not mention the product by name.
