The Meaning of the Word Dude - Essay Example

The objective of this essay is to explore and explain the meaning of the word ‘dude’. Specifically, what does dude mean to me?
In my contention, dude has been part of my everyday language to mean any particular person, preferably male, who could or could not be known to me. For example, when I see an acquaintance who I would like to greet, I would normally say: “Hey dude, good to see you. What’s up?” This meaning was validated in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (par. 3) as it revealed “fellow, guy —sometimes used informally as a term of address”. The distinctive element here is that the word is used as a term of address.

In other circumstances, a dude could mean a guy who wears fashionable clothes or accessories that caught my attention. In this case, I could blurt out: “Wow! That dude surely dons a flashy outfit with such colors, prints, and all that bling!” The meaning I want to relay is the fact that the person is dressed in a certain style or fashion worthy of attention.
Another meaning of dude for me refers to a person who seems to be unfamiliar with life in the city and could be coming from a rural area or another culture. In this situation, I would use dude as: “Look at that dude, he seems to be lost or something. Do you think he needs help?” This meaning was likewise validated in Merriam-Webster (par. 2) as “a city dweller unfamiliar with life on the range; especially: an Easterner in the West”. By manifesting expressions or gestures that indicate unfamiliarity with the surroundings, a person who is new to the environment could be called a dude.

When the term needs to be explained to people who are learning the English language, one could indicate, in addition to the meanings mentioned above, that dude simply refers to a person, male in gender, who is being referred to or addressed by young people from the contemporary generation. Explicitly, this definition appears in the learner’s dictionary portion of Merriam-Webster (par.4) as “[count] chiefly US slang: a man —used especially by young people”. This definition encompasses the rest of the meanings expounded previously.
I was surprised to see from Merriam-Webster (par. 7) that the origin of this term is unknown but was acknowledged to be first used in 1883. I used to think that dude was more of a contemporary term coined by some dude in this country. Read More