On "dude"

[starfirerapture]

I'm reading an article that I have to lead a discussion for next week about the pragmatic use of the word "dude" as a discourse marker, and I'm finding it amazingly fun. Granted, I really like the individual who wrote it, and have used several of his articles as research for my own research, but still

Comments

[pathwriter]

1.) Maybe once a week, maybe less

[starfirerapture]

Location does count, and it was asked in the survey, but I'm using this merely as a discussion point, so I felt it was peripheral.

Incidentally, the study took place at U-Pitt about 6 years ago as part of a required project in the undergrad sociolinguistics courses there. (They also looked at 'yinz', but that wasn't relevant to this article.)

[pathwriter]

Given the volatile nature of youth slang, I wonder how much of that research is still reliable now. "Dude" has a fairly long history, stretching back at least a few decades (do you happen to know the origin? I've often wondered), but its usage and meaning has almost certainly changed in that period. Every time I start to think that it's going to become quaint or old-fashioned, though, it seems to persist more or less undeterred. Of course, the term "cat" held on for rather a long time, well past its heyday.

Edit: To my eternal chagrin, I constantly typo "its" as "it's."

[starfirerapture]

It has quite an interesting etymology - I just read about it in the article. Part of my curiosity with it now, though, is if it is indeed changing. We'll see if it's useful.

(And I hear ya on the its thing. I do the same think alllllll the time.)

[john1082]

Example of ideal response format:
1. list only one option.
2. a. #,# b. #,# c. #,# d.#,# e. #,# f. #,# g. #,# h. #,#
3. One sentence answer here.
4. One sentence answer here.
5. ##/M or F

1. -Never

2. n/a for all

3. I don't use this term at all

4. High schoolers

5. 52, male

[e_m_k]

1. about once a day.
2. Girl/boyfriend 2,n/a
Close friend 3,2
Acquaintance 2,1
Stranger 1,1
Sibling n/a,1
Parent 1,1
Boss 1,1
Professor 1,1
3. Casual, and somewhat friendly/associative form of address.
4. Most often, males age 10-30.
5. 25, M.

[rminct]

1. Hardly ever
2. a. n/a,2 b. 2,2 c. 2,2 d. 1,1 e. 2,n/a f. n/a,n/a g. 1,1 h. 1,1
3. Mostly for humor to imitate or parody.
4. Sarah Palin, aging Berkeley used-to-be hippies, verrrry drunk jocks.
5. 62, male