{{Short description|American slang for an individual}} {{Italic title}} {{other uses}} {{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2012}}
'''''Dude''''' is American slang for an individual, typically male.<ref name=webster/> From the 1870s to the 1960s, dude primarily meant a male person who dressed in an extremely fashionable manner (a dandy) or a conspicuous citified person who was visiting a rural location, a "city slicker". In the 1960s, dude evolved to mean any male person, a meaning that slipped into mainstream American slang in the 1970s. Current slang retains at least some use of all three of these common meanings.<ref name="unisex1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/1914-/language/slang.htm |title=Slang |author1=Winona Bullard |author2=Shirley Johnson |author3=Jerkeshea Morris |author4=Kelly Fox |author5=Cassie Howell |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204062100/http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/1914-/language/slang.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |df=mdy }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Berry-wall-king-dudes.jpg|upright|thumb|Evander Berry Wall, a New York socialite, was dubbed "King of the Dudes". He is pictured (1888) in the ''New York American'' newspaper at the time of the "battle of the Dudes".<ref name="Bryk">{{cite news|url=http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/king-of-the-dudes/15834/|title=King of the Dudes|last=Bryk|first=William|date=June 22, 2005|work=The New York Sun|access-date=2008-11-11|archive-date=October 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017121237/http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/king-of-the-dudes/15834/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Jeffers, Harry Paul (2005). ''Diamond Jim Brady: Prince of the Gilded Age'', p.45. John Wiley and Sons. {{ISBN|0-471-39102-6}}</ref>]] The etymology of the term "dude" is obscure.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dude | title=Definition | publisher=Merriam-Webster | accessdate=5 January 2025}}</ref> "Dude" may have derived from the 18th-century word "doodle", as in "Yankee Doodle Dandy".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/11/05/dude_etymology_of_the_word_is_traced_to_doodle_as_in_yankee_doodle_dandy.html|title=Mystery Solved: The Etymology of Dude|last=Okrent|first=Arika|date=2013-11-05|work=Slate|access-date=2017-10-24|language=en-US|issn=1091-2339|archive-date=October 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015060642/http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/11/05/dude_etymology_of_the_word_is_traced_to_doodle_as_in_yankee_doodle_dandy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the popular press of the 1880s and 1890s, "dude" was a new word for "dandy"—an "extremely well-dressed male", a man who assigned particular importance to his appearance. The café society and Bright Young Things of the late 1800s and early 1900s were populated with dudes. Young men of leisure vied to display their wardrobes. The best known of this type is probably Evander Berry Wall, who was dubbed "King of the Dudes" in 1880s New York and maintained a reputation for sartorial splendor all his life. This meaning of the word, though rarely consciously known today, remains occasionally in some American slang, as in the phrase "all duded up" for getting dressed in fancy clothes.<ref>{{citation |contribution=duded up |title=McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs |year=2002 |publisher=The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. |url=http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/duded+up |access-date=10 October 2012 |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204073038/http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/duded+up |url-status=live }}</ref>
thumb|upright|Among the first published descriptions defining "dude"; ''Chicago Tribune'', 25 February 1883The word was used to refer to American Easterners, specifically referring to a man with "store-bought clothes".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xah2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT103|title=Eagle County Characters: Historic Tales of a Colorado Mountain Valley|first=Kathy|last=Heicher|date=June 4, 2013|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781614239505|via=Google Books|access-date=September 23, 2020|archive-date=March 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314054120/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xah2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT103#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The word was used by cowboys to unfavorably refer to the city dwellers.<ref>{{cite web|title=h2g2 - The Word 'Dude' - Edited Entry|url=http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A193853|website=h2g2.com|access-date=2015-07-26|first=Not Panicking|last=Ltd|date=October 29, 1999|archive-date=April 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427215001/http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A193853|url-status=live}}</ref>
A variation of this was a "well-dressed man who is unfamiliar with life outside a large city". In ''The Home and Farm Manual'' (1883), author Jonathan Periam used the term "dude" several times to denote an ill-bred and ignorant but ostentatious man from the city.<ref>Periam, Jonathan. ''The Home and Farm Manual''. New York: Orange Judd Company, 1883/1884, pp. 919, 922, 955.</ref>
The implication of an individual who is unfamiliar with the demands of life outside of urban settings gave rise to the definition of dude as a "city slicker", or "an Easterner in the [American] West".<ref name=webster>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dude |title=''Dude'', Def. 2 – The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |access-date=8 May 2007 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |archive-date=March 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308181328/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dude |url-status=live }}</ref> Thus "dude" was used to describe the wealthy men of the expansion of the United States during the 19th century by ranch-and-homestead-bound settlers of the American Old West. This use is reflected in the ''dude ranch'', a guest ranch catering to urbanites seeking more rural experiences. Dude ranches began to appear in the American West in the early 20th century, for wealthy Easterners who came to experience the "cowboy life". The implicit contrast is with those persons accustomed to a given frontier, agricultural, mining, or other rural setting. This usage of "dude" was still in use in the 1950s in America, as a word for a tourist—of either sex—who attempts to dress like the local culture but fails.<ref name=oldunisex>{{cite journal|jstor=453362|title=The meanings and etymologies of dude|journal=American Speech|author=Robert Knoll|year=1952|volume=27|issue=1|pages=20–22|doi=10.2307/453362}}</ref> An inverse of these uses of "dude" would be the term "redneck," a contemporary American colloquialism referring to poor farmers and uneducated persons, which itself became pejorative, and is also still in use.<ref>Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American Slang'' (1975) p. 424.</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redneck "Redneck"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521000851/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redneck? |date=May 21, 2013 }}. ''Dictionary.com''.</ref><ref>Barbara Ann Kipfer and Robert L. Chapman, ''American Slang'' (2008), p. 404.</ref>
As the word gained popularity and reached the coasts of the U.S. and traveled between borders, variations of the slang began to pop up such as the female versions of ''dudette'' and ''dudines''. However, they were short lived due to dude also gaining a neutral gender connotation, and some linguists see the female versions as more artificial slang. The slang eventually had gradual decline in usage until the early to mid 20th century when other subcultures of the U.S. began using it more frequently while again deriving it from the type of dress and eventually using it as a descriptor for common male and sometimes female companions. Eventually, lower class schools with a greater mix of subcultures allowed the word to spread to almost all cultures and eventually up the class ladders to become common use in the U.S. By the late 20th to early 21st century, dude had gained the ability to be used in the form of expression, whether that be disappointment, excitement, or loving and it also widened to be able to refer to any general person no matter race, sex, or culture.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hill|first=Richard A.|date=1994|title=You've Come a Long Way, Dude: A History|jstor=455525|journal=American Speech|volume=69|issue=3|pages=321–327|doi=10.2307/455525}}</ref>
The term was also used as a "job description", such as "bush hook dude" as a position on a railroad in the 1880s, likely referring to brush-clearing work along the railway line. This usage is consistent with the broader tendency of 19th-century railroad workers to employ informal slang job titles (e.g., “gandy dancer”),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gandy%20dancer?|title=GANDY DANCER Definition & Meaning|publisher=Merriam-Webster Dictionary|access-date=13 April 2026}}</ref> and with contemporary definitions of “dude” as a term for men who do not fit their environment, appearing to reflect a loose adaptation of the term’s earlier meaning as a dandy.<ref>Farmer & Henley, ''Slang and Its Analogues'', Volume 2, p. 338. {{ISBN|1025253531}}. Accessed 13 April 2026.</ref>
In the early 1960s, dude became prominent in surfer culture as a synonym of ''guy'' or ''fella''. The female equivalent was "dudette" or "dudess", but these have both fallen into disuse and "dude" is now also used as a unisex term. This more general meaning of "dude" started creeping into the mainstream in the mid-1970s. "Dude" is commonly used in informal American English as a form of address or to refer to another person (e.g., “Dude, I’m glad you finally called”). This usage became widespread in the late 20th century, often associated with Californian surf culture.<ref>Merriam-Webster; Oxford English Dictionary; studies of American slang.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Examples of Slang |first=Cassie |last=Howell |url=http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/1914-/language/slang.htm |access-date=10 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204062100/http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/1914-/language/slang.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2013}}</ref>
One of the first known references to the word in American film was in the 1969 movie ''Easy Rider'' where Wyatt (portrayed by Peter Fonda) explains to his cellmate lawyer (portrayed by Jack Nicholson) the definition of "dude": "Dude means nice guy; Dude means regular sort of person." Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad claims that drummer Don Brewer popularized the word dude with the song "We're an American Band" which was released in 1973.<ref>{{YouTube|id=asgfNYp2kqY|title=Guitarist gave Drummer SOLE CREDIT On 70s Hit He Helped CREATE-Cost Him Millions}}</ref> The usage of the word to mean a "cool person" was further popularized in American films of the 1980s and 1990s such as ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'', ''Wayne's World'', and ''Clerks''.<ref name="good">{{cite news|last1=Peters|first1=Mark|title=The History of the "Dude"|url=https://www.good.is/articles/the-history-of-the-dude|access-date=27 January 2017|publisher=GOOD Worldwide, Inc.|date=25 April 2010|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202063257/https://www.good.is/articles/the-history-of-the-dude|url-status=live}}</ref>
The 1998 film ''The Big Lebowski'' featured Jeff Bridges as "The Dude", described as a "lazy deadbeat". The character was largely inspired by activist and producer Jeff Dowd who has been called "Dude" since childhood.<ref name="npr">{{cite news|last1=Raz|first1=Guy|title=The Dude: A Little Lebowski, Alive in All of Us|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90725993|access-date=27 January 2017|work=All Things Considered|publisher=National Public Radio|date=25 May 2008|archive-date=September 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905120345/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90725993|url-status=live}}</ref> The film's central character inspired the creation of Dudeism, a neoreligion.<ref name="cnn">{{cite news|last1=Ehrlich|first1=Richard|title=The man who founded a religion based on 'The Big Lebowski'|url=http://travel.cnn.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793/|access-date=27 January 2017|work=CNN Travel|publisher=CNN|date=20 March 2013|archive-date=March 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324030503/http://travel.cnn.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793/|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2008, Bud Light aired an advertising campaign in which the dialogue consists entirely of different inflections of "Dude!" and does not mention the product by name. It was a followup to their near-identical and more widely noted "Whassup?" campaign.<ref>{{cite web |last=Swansburg |first=John |title=Dude! How great are those new Bud Light ads? |work=Slate |date=28 January 2008 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2182846/pagenum/all/#page_start |access-date=10 March 2008 |archive-date=March 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313182320/http://www.slate.com/id/2182846/pagenum/all/#page_start |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="good" />
On July 23, 2019, Boris Johnson used the word "dude" as an acronym for his Conservative Party leadership campaign platform. In his leadership speech he explained it: Deliver Brexit – Unite the country – Defeat Jeremy Corbyn – Energize the country.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-49084446 |title=Dude! We are going to energise the country |work=BBC News |access-date=2019-12-12 |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723230039/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-49084446/boris-johnson-dude-we-are-going-to-energise-the-country |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==Further reading== {{Wiktionary}} * [http://www.pitt.edu/~kiesling/dude/dude.html Dude] – By Kiesling, Scott F., Published in ''American Speech'', Vol. 79, No. 3, Fall 2004, pp. 281–305 * [http://observer.com/2003/07/dude-wheres-my-dude-dudelicious-dissection-from-sontag-to-spicoli/ Dude, Where's My Dude?] – Dudelicious Dissection, From Sontag to Spicoli, ''The New York Observer'' * [http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010621 Words@random:] "dude" * [http://dudespaper.com/dude-university/material-for-the-study-of-dude-part-1 Material for the Study of Dude] – The etymological origin of the word "dude" by Barry Popik, David Shulman, and Gerald Cohen. Originally published in ''Comments on Etymology'', October 1993, Vol. 23, No. 1 * {{cite journal|title=You've Come a Long Way, Dude: A History|last=Hill|first=Richard A.|journal=American Speech|publisher=Duke University Press|volume=69|issue=3|date=Autumn 1994|pages=321–327|doi=10.2307/455525|jstor=455525}} * {{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/dude-transcends/309528/|title=A Brief History of ''Dude''|last=Gould|first=J. J.|work=The Atlantic|date=November 2013|access-date=May 21, 2017}}
Category:19th-century fashion Category:20th-century fashion Category:Slang terms for men Category:Stereotypes of urban people Category:American slang