7/4 Posted December 8, 2004 Report Posted December 8, 2004 December 8, 2004 Linguist Deciphers Uses of Word 'Dude' By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 10:01 a.m. ET PITTSBURGH -- Dude, you've got to read this. A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word ``dude,'' 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 (``What's up, dude?''); as an exclamation (``Whoa, Dude!''); commiseration (``Dude, I'm so sorry.''); to one-up someone (``That's so lame, dude.''); as well as agreement, surprise and disgust (``Dude.''). Kiesling says in the fall edition of American Speech that the word derives its power from something he calls cool solidarity -- an effortless kinship that's 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. ``It's like man or buddy, there is often this male-male addressed term that says, 'I'm your friend but not much more than your friend,''' said Kiesling, whose research focuses on language and masculinity. To decode the word's 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 ``dude'' 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. ``Men report that they use dude with women with whom they are close friends, but not with women with whom they are intimate,'' 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 ``old rags'' -- a ``dudesman'' was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a ``dude'' was akin to a ``dandy,'' a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. It became ``cool'' in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Kiesling. Dude began its rise in the teenage lexicon with the 1981 movie ``Fast Times at Ridgemont High.'' ``Dude'' 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. ``I have seen middle-aged men using 'dude' with each other,'' she said. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted December 8, 2004 Report Posted December 8, 2004 My favorite use of the word comes from the guitarist in the R&B band I play in. He'll often start a sentence with this exclamation: "Dude, man!" Quote
neveronfriday Posted December 8, 2004 Report Posted December 8, 2004 "I think we're parked, man!" No "dude" in that one, but .... Quote
Brownian Motion Posted December 8, 2004 Report Posted December 8, 2004 "In the late 1800s, a ``dude'' was akin to a ``dandy,'' a meticulously dressed man, especially out West." Dude. "He found the word taps into nonconformity...." Dude? "....and a new American image of leisurely success." Dude! Quote
7/4 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Posted December 8, 2004 Maybe next they can work on why my 27 year old nephew keeps calling me "bro". Quote
RDK Posted December 8, 2004 Report Posted December 8, 2004 What a cunning linguist that dude is! Quote
mikeweil Posted December 8, 2004 Report Posted December 8, 2004 What a cunning linguist that dude is! Quote
7/4 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Posted December 8, 2004 Maybe next they can work on why my 27 year old nephew keeps calling me "bro" what's there to explain, bro'? i don't understand. you either dig it, man, or you don't. hep smoke the reefer-- clem He's my nephew, not my bro'. Our drug days are over...my many years ago, his...about 60 days ago. Quote
7/4 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Posted December 8, 2004 What a cunning linguist that dude is! Damm! I forgot all about that one! Quote
neveronfriday Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Maybe next they can work on why my 27 year old nephew keeps calling me "bro" what's there to explain, bro'? i don't understand. you either dig it, man, or you don't. hep smoke the reefer-- clem He's my nephew, not my bro'. Our drug days are over...my many years ago, his...about 60 days ago. Don't fear the reefer. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 I believe the correct, hip pronuciation is "brah". Quote
Joe G Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Don't fear the reefer. I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' a dobe. Quote
rachel Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 What a cunning linguist that dude is! Damm! I forgot all about that one! <hint> .... don't ever forget about that.... Quote
JSngry Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 (edited) Who knew that Rachel was really Millie Jackson? Edited December 9, 2004 by JSngry Quote
Guy Berger Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 When I first moved to the east coast for grad school, I was one of the only people who used the word "dude". Now everybody around me does it as frequently as I dude. I mean, I do.* I like to think I did my own little part in debasing the English language. Guy *When I was typing that sentence I really did type out "as I dude". Quote
rachel Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Who knew that Rachel was really Millie Jackson? Double standard? Quote
7/4 Posted December 9, 2004 Author Report Posted December 9, 2004 What a cunning linguist that dude is! Damm! I forgot all about that one! <hint> .... don't ever forget about that.... ah...the pun. Quote
JSngry Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Who knew that Rachel was really Millie Jackson? Double standard? God, I hope not. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 My wife calls all the new sports in the Winter Olympics "Dude sports". You know, the free-style snow-boarding, and other "Xtreme" sports. The sports where the participants all call each other "dude"!! Makes sense to me. Quote
rachel Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Who knew that Rachel was really Millie Jackson? Double standard? God, I hope not. Then I guess I don't get your point. Quote
JSngry Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Who knew that Rachel was really Millie Jackson? Double standard? God, I hope not. Then I guess I don't get your point. Referring to Millie's rap on LIVE & UNCENSORED where she basically says the same thing you did, only in a Millie Jackson type way, which is considerably more, uh... "colorful" than how you said it. Now if you you don't know Millie Jackson, at least from her prime years, you're missing out on some darn good stuff. Good Southern, Stax-ish R&B that kept modern as the 70s wore on and never really succumbed to disco and such. Plus, she's the prototype for today's "sassy" female hip-hop artists. She WOULD talk shit on her records, to men and women alike. Not in the least bit bashful, if you get my drift. Check her out, she's great. Quote
rachel Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 (edited) I'm very familiar with Millie Jackson . I thought I was making a somewhat coy reference to a double entendre, not being *in your face descriptive*, a la Ms. Jackson. Hence my puzzlement. Maybe I was thrown off by your choice of the 'disdainful' smiley. Edited December 9, 2004 by rachel Quote
JSngry Posted December 9, 2004 Report Posted December 9, 2004 Maybe I was thrown off by your choice of the 'disdainful' smiley. Sorry, I didn't realize that that was what that one meant. My bad, completely. Sorry. Quote
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