elmeromero

Dude, as recently as four years ago I met a young person from Philadelphia who was utterly baffled with my Californian usage of the word "dude". Who around the U.S. or Canada does or does not use this word, and why?

SandraT

During my years as translator, I have never heard the word "dude" in any conversation, formal or not. Doing some further reading since your thread really got me interested I confirmed what I previously thought...

dude is an address term that is used mostly by young men to address other young men; however, its use has expanded so that it is now used as a general address term for a group (same or mixed gender), and by and to women.
Dude is developing into a discourse marker that need not identify an addressee, but more generally encodes the speaker’s stance to his or her current addressee(s). The term is used mainly in situations in which a speaker takes a stance of solidarity or camaraderie, but crucially in a nonchalant, not-too-enthusiastic manner.
Dude indexes a stance of effortlessness (or laziness, depending on the perspective of the hearer), largely because of its origins in the “surfer” and “druggie” subcultures in which such stances are valued. The reason young men use this term is precisely that dude indexes this stance of cool solidarity.
Such a stance is especially valuable for young men as they navigate cultural Discourses of young masculinity, which simultaneously demand masculine solidarity, strict heterosexuality, and non-conformity.

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[Have a nice day!!!
♥ Sandra T ♥

emilyb

elmeromero,
Over on the east coast we use "dude" but not very often and usually in a sarcastic way to make fun of surfers. the word "dude" usually brings to mind "fast times at ridgemont high".

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Emily B

serrabecerra

I use dude casually and it is used constantly in american movies and shows. I am born and raised (except for two years) in the Northeast US. I grew up in the 80's but maybe your young person is very young or is only exposed to one type of crowd. One example I could give you is Randy on American Idol. He uses dude very often and he is not a surfer.

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~ Claudia

elmeromero

Wow, SandraT, I had no idea the academic community had devoted so much energy to the word "dude". And thanks to you east coasters for your input. Now that you mention it, I have heard of Randy on American Idol saying "dude". Though I'm not saying I would ever watch that crap.

serrabecerra

I don't know why you have to insult other people's taste elmeromero - that's very adolescent of you.

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~ Claudia

elmeromero

"I don't know why you have to insult other people's taste elmeromero - that's very adolescent of you."

I must be misunderstanding something here. Or did you really use the word "taste" in reference to American Idol? Isn't that the show where women are continually voted to remain in the competition on the basis of the fellatio they perform and not their singing skills (Antonella Barba)? Aren't the winners more often than not generally agreed to not be the best singers in the competition? Get a clue and lighten up.

Mexican Translator

Apoyo la opinión de elmeromero... (sin intención de provocar a nadie)

sabrina

I guess that word is a typical American expression for I never heard it say in London...Am I right?

serrabecerra

Wow, elmeromero, you know so much about the show...

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~ Claudia