To all the 'Dudes' out there.

[RadiationTherapy]

'Dude' means a lot of things for a lot of people. For me, it is a relaxed person, of any demographic, who relieves more stress than they contribute.

'Dude' will never be an insult in my eyes. I will never think a 'dude' is dumb, incompetent, a stoner, a loser, or any other negative connotation.

So to all you 'dudes' out there, cheers, you are a relaxing presence in the world. Thank you for alleviating stress rather than contributing. I appreciate you all.

[no limit]

1. Totally bro!

:)

[Parker CA]

2. Right on, dude!

[KG]

3. Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

[RedSpartan]

8. Win.

[WCGreen]

31. I watched the dude last night....

Fucking Nihilist...

[Spike89]

4. The dude's abide...

what else is there?

[Codeine]

5. Shut the fuck up Donny!

You're out of your element.

[Egnever]

41. +!

[Viking 1]

6. Whut?

Sorry, man, I just woke up 5 minutes ago......What time is it?

[provis99]

7. for me, "dude" is equivalent to pot-smoking lazy fuckwad.

Now that you know what it means to me, would you be insulted if I called you a dude?

[shanti]

9. we know now

how you stand on weed. nice....:eyes:

[provis99]

17. you are missing the point.

The point is that the context of the word itself matters at least as much as the word.

For example, if I called you a liberal, you might think that is nice. But if a freeper calls you a liberal, he has just insulted you. Likewise, if I called you a freeper, you would be insulted. If I went to a right-wing website and called someone a freeper, they might say "Thanks".

[RadiationTherapy]

25. This is a good point.

Though I maintain that, like some other more controversial slurs, I choose not to let people 'own' the words.

Yours is an important point though.

[sabrina 1]

37. Lots of rightwingers have called me a 'liberal'.

I was never insulted, I just considered the source. And usually thanked them.

[RadiationTherapy]

12. The word dude from anyone toward me will never be an insult.

But I dig the psychology of what you're saying.

[Dreamer Tatum]

15. Sorry, dude. nt

[sudopod]

18. No John

You are the fuckwads.

And then John was a dude.

[fishwax]

22. now that I know what it means to you, it's hard to take anything you say about it seriously n/t

[Vincardog]

24. K dude

[reggie the dog]

26. a dude is just a regular kind of person, you know, a dude

[Le Taz Hot]

60. Dude, you are SO harshin' my buzz.

:smoke: :hippie:

[Erose999]

74. Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski. Condolences. The bums lost.

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

Pictured: You

[Erose999]

79. Oh, and while I'm on a roll: Stay out of Malibu Lebowski! Stay out of Malibu deadbeat!

[RadiationTherapy]

81. That's, like, classcism, dude.

You can't keep me out just because I'm a deadbeat...can you?

I don't have a lawyer! Only friends! hahahahaha

[hifiguy]

10. I've always used "dude"

as alternative to "man" but with a, umm, "mellower" connotation. As in "hey dude" = "hey man".

[badgerpup]

23. "Dude"...

...to me, connotates an offer of if not deep friendship, at least friendliness.

It is less formal than 'sir' and lacks the subtlely threatening overtones of "pal".

JMHO and two bits o' copper...:shrug:

It does make me giggle a bit when I'm addressed as 'dude', however...
I just take it as intended and return the salute.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. I've never taken offense to it.

When I was growing up, 'dude' was often paired with 'cool,' and I always thought that being a 'cool dude' was something all guys should hope to be one day. Uncool dudes, however, are always looking to be offended by something -- even a compliment.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. Thanks dude!

:hi:

[RadiationTherapy]

14. You got it.

Keep it cool, LJ_J.

[ZombieHorde]

16. Off topic.....

I just listened to your song, Instrumental Institution, on youtube. It's awesome. I subscribed and put the video on my favorites.

The Googleplex reminded me of the old Troma movie trailers I watched as a kid.

[RadiationTherapy]

20. Thank you so much for saying that.

It means a lot to receive a compliment on me and my brother's creative expressions. Thanks.

[RadiationTherapy]

42. Haha. Troma movies.

I had to google it, then laugh. I saw a few of them and read a lot of their VHS cover summaries back in the day - when VHS rental stores were new and run by small business owners.

[DainBramaged]

19. To me dude is equivalent to bro, rude and simply ignorant

hate both words

[RadiationTherapy]

21. I would love to know more about how an abbreviated form of 'brother' is rude and ignorant.

Although, the ignorant one is a bit easier to see if you take the 'you don't even know me, so don't call me brother' angle.

As far as 'dude', well, it means a lot of things for people and if it is insulting to you I would not call you that.

[DainBramaged]

27. (sigh) no, it's offensive to me and take it for what it's worth

[RadiationTherapy]

28. Sounds good.

No problem.

[tranche]

36. So much hate. So few words.

Give me a break.

[DainBramaged]

48. Hate, because I dislike being referred to as a dude or a bro?

I'll take the big red x under ignore for $100 Alex

[jberryhill]

38. Your concern is noted, Homie /nt

[Forkboy]

29. I can't hear it without thinking of Bill and Ted.

And try as I might, I can't thing of anything someone would call me that would offend me. I'm totally secure in who I am, so what words could really hurt me.? Sticks and stones, and all that. I actually like being insulted if it's clever, like my father calling me the "Hannibal Lector of freeloaders" when I was 17. That was fucking funny, even though he clearly said it to hurt me.

I do understand that for some people words can be very hurtful, and I can respect that position. It just doesn't apply to me at all. Besides, no one here on DU, or much of anywhere else, will come up with types of things said to me when I was playing hockey. Anyone who thinks hockey players are dumb have clearly never heard their grasp of the English language. :D

[themadstork]

40. Hannibal Lector of freeloaders?

What does that mean? You drink your chianti and eat your fava beans on someone else's dime?

[seabeyond]

30. i always equated dude with mellow, cool. and use dudette for the female.

never knew it meant anything negative.

[pipi_k]

43. My daughter and I call each other "Doodette" all the time

She's 38 and I'm 58


Our second and third childhoods, I guess...


:7

[canoeist52]

32. Origin of the word "dude" -1870

"The term "dude" was first used in print in 1870, in Putnam's Magazine.<5>

One of the earliest books to use the word was The Home and Farm Manual, written by Jonathan Periam in 1883. In that work, Periam used the term "dude" several times to denote an ill-bred and ignorant, but ostentatious, man from the city. The term was also used as a job description such as "bush hook dude" <6> as a position on a railroad in the 1880s.

"Dude ranches", to which wealthy Easterners came to experience the "cowboy life," began to appear in the American West in the early 20th century.

The oldest usage was typically applied to a well-dressed male, or one who is unfamiliar with life outside a large city. These definitions later gave rise to a more technical definition: "an Easterner in the West" (United States).<7> Thus "dude" was used to describe the prude wealthy men of the rustic western expansion of the United States during the 19th century by German settlers of the American Old East.

The word became prominent in surfer culture in the early 1960s, but it wasn't until the mid-'70s that it started creeping into the mainstream. Some usages in mainly American pop culture have contributed to the spread of this word."

[RadiationTherapy]

33. Thanks for that interesting rundown.

Very interesting.

[immoderate]

34. Dude...

--imm

[proud patriot]

35. Thanks

as a Californian Dude has always been a term of endearment for me

[themadstork]

39. Dude. . .

I mean, dude.

[bigwillq]

44. I love the word Dude.

Dude. ;)

:hi:

[RadiationTherapy]

78. Cheers, dude!

Happy friday to all and to all a good friday! But you can eat bacon! If you do! It's not that kind of good friday! Dude!

[Xithras]

45. I think it's a function of age and geographic location.

I've haven't met a single native west coaster under 40 who takes Dude as an insult. I've met plenty of older people who do, and honestly never met a younger person who didn't like the term until I went to college and suddenly started meeting people from th midwest and east coast. They tend to associate the term with "pot smoking loser".

This has been a problem for me all my adult life, as "dude" is just as ingrained into my vocabulary as "man". It's the way I grew up speaking, and would be as hard for me to ditch as it would be for someone from Boston to ditch their accent.

BTW, "dude" to me is simply a replacement reference for a man. When I first met the chancellor of my university, I'm pretty sure I greeted him with a "Hey dude". It was just another way of saying "Hello, sir".

It's always interesting to see how people react to it. As I said, my fellow native Californian's rarely blink an eye at it, but I'll occasionally run into someone who just gets totally bent out of shape when I do it. With them, I just follow up with a, "Hey man, relax, I was just saying hello."

[Bluenorthwest]

46. Why would it insult anyone? It means 'mensch' and there is no

other word in English to replace it. It is peer to peer language, sandy and salty wet.

[Occulus]

50. There is one poster here and one only who uses it very, VERY condescendingly.

And constantly. He uses it all the time, especially when he is disagreeing.

Painfully obvious, is that one.

[SDuderstadt]

51. Yet this whole thread is about how it's a compliment, not...

an insult.

Too funny, dude.

[RadiationTherapy]

53. BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Wooooo.


*points and laughs* HAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa



*sigh*

[RadiationTherapy]

54. This thread is about people who contextualize 'dude' as a slur.

And how silly that is to most, here.

Childish, even. But, we can't all be bothered to post 'BAAAAHAHAHAHAHA' everytime we see it.



BAAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[SDuderstadt]

64. Maybe you should actually read the...

thread.

[RadiationTherapy]

68. Maybe I already know your rhetorical style

of insisting that you know something obvious that others do not.

I am comfortable with what I have written and read and am willing to let this thread be interpreted by all as they see fit; that means you too, dude!

You totally have my permission to perceive yourself as 'correct'. It's your world, man, I'm just passing through, dig? I knew you could...

[donheld]

47. To most everybody in Colorado: Dude = Guy

nothing good nothing bad.

[-..__...]

49. "Here's my story, it's sad but true...

(presented for all you 80's MTV "Headbangers Ball" fans)...

:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

About a girl that I once knew.
She broke my heart, I became unglued,
It all started when she called me dude

Well today I leave the psycho ward
Cause my sentence did conclude:
I had killed a man with my bare hands
Because he called me dude

The jury said that I was insane.
Temporally insane - brain strain.
But now the doctors say I'm A.O.K.
So I start my new life today.

This story starts some years ago
As I vacationed by the sea.
In the California sunshine
Just me & my baby.

I was in love feeling sky high
When a big blonde lifeguard walked by.
He looked at her, she looked at him -
I knew it was good bye.

He took her by the hand, kicked sand in my face.
She looked & laughed & said, "Later Dude!"
They were gone without a trace
And the waves echoed her laughter
And her words...Yo Later Dude.

Later that night I was in such a bad mood
Sittin' in a bar drinkin' hard, getting stewed
Thinkin' 'bout that girl & how 'bout I'd been screwed
When some guy walks in sits next to me & says
What's up dude!

I heard the word dude & I became unglued.
Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch
And put my hands around his neck, and I squeezed...

DON'T CALL ME DUDE!

So that's how I got where I am
But this ain't where it ends.
The doctors said they cured me
I said good bye to my crazy friends.

I was smiling as i left that place
My life had been renewed.
The guard at the gate, he stamped my pass
And he said, "Yo Later Dude!"

Slowly I turned...


:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbLhHtaVIO4:headbang:

[theHandpuppet]

52. Latest episode of Ghost Adventures

OMG! Dude!
Did you see that, Bro?
Dude, I swear.... DUDE!
Bro!
DUDE!
Bro!
DUDE!
It moved right through my body, Dude!
No shit, Bro! Look at the hair on my arms.
Holy shit, Dude!
Let's get the freak outta here, Bro!
Hey, I'm with you, DUDE! Dude... dude... DUDE?!!!!

[mac56]

55. In my small MN town, back in the late 60s

at our school, "dude" was always conveyed as an insult. It implied being a rookie, a poser, an unskilled and non-savvy person.

I don't think I've heard it used in that context since then.

[MindPilot]

56. It's a general modifier, form of address and exclamation.

It has become almost as universal as "fuck".

The standard colloquial usage I encounter every day is "dude" used simply to preface a sentence even if speaking to a female, "DUDE, this new version of Zombie Chopper is totally dope shit, man! At the Game Stop, dude gave me 40% off!"

Anyone insulted by the word needs a hobby.

Edited to add: Until this very moment the idea that someone might find "dude" insulting never crossed my mind.

[RadiationTherapy]

71. Indeed! But what of those who USE it as an insult

under the guise that you won't know they are insulting you?? Sillier? I think so.

The impetus was those who use it with negative connotation, rather than one who would be insulted. It seems fairly obvious to me that the word is normalized in our language and to perceive or use it as an insult is to be woefully disconnected from society.

[CJCRANE]

57. I'm not into

the whole brevity thing.

I prefer "El Duderino".

[aikoaiko]

58. The television man is crazy Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks

The television man is crazy
Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks
Man, I needed TV when I got T. Rex
Hey, brother you guessed, I'm a dude

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HD73LyWpcw

[RadiationTherapy]

80. Wow. The jewel of the thread, perhaps!?

I never knew of this 50th birthday...what a lineup!

That's the best thing about dudes - they contribute to and change your life. Thanks!

[deutsey]

59. You'll love "Dudeism", then...www.dudeism.com

We also have a new book coming out in August:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569759766/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0NDQEQ50MKKYCMHM0W4C&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

[RadiationTherapy]

70. Like, mercy booKoops, man!

[deutsey]

88. No problemo, man.

:hi:

[RadiationTherapy]

89. I dig the Vonnegut in your sigline to.

Sad story.

[EstimatedProphet]

61. Dude...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKYXmjfQY4U

[RadiationTherapy]

73. Nice! Thanks!

Haven't listened to 90s ska punk in a while...this IS 90s ska punk, right??

[Courtesy Flush]

62. Or El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing. nt

[Exultant Democracy]

85. the dude abides...

[tekisui]

63. Only an insufferable ass would use it as a condescending insult.

[SDuderstadt]

66. And only one would pretend it's an insult...

dude.

[RadiationTherapy]

75. I agree. It is a sad commentary on one's potential hermitdom

to be so reclusive as to not see the connotation is almost entirely neutral/good - Like D&D, suckahs!

[LanternWaste]

65. It's also easier than using someone's given name or sobriquet...

It's also easier than using someone's given name or sobriquet, and may advertise a conscious laziness on the part of the speaker.

Because "dude" is so much easier to say than "Bob"...

[RadiationTherapy]

69. Right? I find people's names and sobriquets to be TOO short and easy.

I like to use 'myxlplyx' for my friends and 'motherf#$@ing myxlplyx' if I am rapping.

[LanternWaste]

84. I imagine context, target, tone and tenor may also imply benign vs malignant usage

I imagine context, target, tone and tenor may also imply benign vs malignant usage. It's rarely difficult to interpret one way or the other for the majority of people.

But I also do understand if that's simply too much for many people.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

67. dude!

yeah.

[RadiationTherapy]

77. Right!? Whatevah, dude.

hahahahahahahaha.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

82. dude! some people in this thread need to chill. . .

negative energy.

[RadiationTherapy]

83. It's the anti-dude!

Here to ensconce us in anti-chill! Did it just get tense in here, or is it just him? >> hahahahahahahahaa

[suffragette]

93. The anti-dude!

Bringing the anti-chill!
Great OP. K&R

[guitar man]

72. I've been called a lot worse

No worries here! :hi:

[RadiationTherapy]

76. Cheers, GM.

Play on, play on...*insert hendrix outro here*

[Zorra]

86. Not a dude, dude, but

as an old school beach bum, dude has always been a term of sisterly affection for dudes for me.

Kind of like bro.

[Initech]

87. You're Mr. Lebowski, I'm the Dude - man!

So that's what you call me - that or his Dudeness or Duder or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

[RadiationTherapy]

92. I have never understood the context for 'brevity' in this line

but now I do.

2.
the quality of expressing much in few words; terseness:

[Catherine Vincent]

90. Hurley!!

Is that you? :)

[RadiationTherapy]

91. 4 8 15 16 23 42

Cursed!