Dude, you can't be serious!

[jamotto]

Link

quote:

---

PITTSBURGH - Dude, youÔÇÖve got to read this.

A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word ÔÇ£dude,ÔÇØ contending it is much more than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters, slackers and teenagers.

An admitted dude-user during his college years, Scott Kiesling said the four-letter word has many uses: in greetings (ÔÇ£WhatÔÇÖs up, dude?ÔÇØ); as an exclamation (ÔÇ£Whoa, Dude!ÔÇØ); commiseration (ÔÇ£Dude, IÔÇÖm so sorry.ÔÇØ); to one-up someone (ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs so lame, dude.ÔÇØ); as well as agreement, surprise and disgust (ÔÇ£Dude.ÔÇØ).

Kiesling says in the fall edition of American Speech that the word derives its power from something he calls cool solidarity ÔÇö an effortless kinship thatÔÇÖs not too intimate.

Cool solidarity is especially important to young men who are under social pressure to be close with other young men, but not enough to be suspected as gay.

In other words: Close, dude, but not that close.

ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs like man or buddy, there is often this male-male addressed term that says, ÔÇÖIÔÇÖm your friend but not much more than your friend,ÔÇØÔÇÖ said Kiesling, whose research focuses on language and masculinity.

To decode the wordÔÇÖs meaning, Kiesling listened to conversations with fraternity members he taped in 1993. He also had undergraduate students in sociolinguistics classes in 2001 and 2002 write down the first 20 times they heard ÔÇ£dudeÔÇØ and who said it during a three-day period.

He found the word taps into nonconformity and a new American image of leisurely success.

Anecdotally, men were the predominant users of the word, but women sometimes call each other dudes.

Less frequently, men will call women dudes and vice versa. But that comes with some rules, according to self-reporting from students in a 2002 language and gender class included in the paper.

ÔÇ£Men report that they use dude with women with whom they are close friends, but not with women with whom they are intimate,ÔÇØ according to the study.

His students also reported that they were least likely to use the word with parents, bosses and professors.

Historically, dude originally meant ÔÇ£old ragsÔÇØ ÔÇö a ÔÇ£dudesmanÔÇØ was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a ÔÇ£dudeÔÇØ was akin to a ÔÇ£dandy,ÔÇØ a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. It became ÔÇ£coolÔÇØ in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Kiesling. Dude began its rise in the teenage lexicon with the 1981 movie ÔÇ£Fast Times at Ridgemont High.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£DudeÔÇØ also shows no signs of disappearing as more and more of our culture becomes youth-centered, said Mary Bucholtz, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

ÔÇ£I have seen middle-aged men using ÔÇÖdudeÔÇÖ with each other,ÔÇØ she said.

---

Dude, like, whatever

[Wolferz]

Dude, where's my car?

[Freyar]

Dude, You mean.. that I can like.. uh.... stop bullets?

[Guest]

next up: Schiznit

[weegee_101]

Thats effing awesome dude! I use that word all the time.

Dude, its great to hear this great word get some respect.

(Yes I really do use it more than I should, but that report really did hit it on the nail, for me at least)

[Kevin Trotter]

Dude, you got too much time on your hands.