dude

Pronunciation

• IPA: /duːd/, /djuːd/^[1]

Etymology

It is of unknown origin;^[2][3] it came into vogue in New York in 1883.^[2][4] Recent research reported by Etymonline suggests a shortening of Yankee Doodle, from the song's idea of a foppish man,^[4] and Word Origins also takes it as probably a shortening of doodle.^[5] Hoad and the New Oxford Dictionary derive it instead from German dialect Dude “fool”.^[6][7] The Century Dictionary thought it probably a spontaneous product of popular slang.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A man very particular about his dress and manners, a dandy: 1883.^[2][8][3] It was the vogue word of that year, first used of followers of the “aesthetic” craze.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Also in 1883 it was applied to a city person or Easterner holidaying in the American West,^[8][4] whence dude ranch, a ranch taking paying guests, by 1921.^[2][4] More generally, a man who attracts attention, a fellow, is from 1918 in the OED.^[8] Word Origins says it came to mean simply “a person” in the 1890s,^[5] while Etymonline records the application to any man by 1966, in African-American vernacular,^[4] and Barnhart about 1970.^[2] The verb dude up, “to dress up”, is from 1899.^[8]

Timeline

• 1883 – a dandy; an Easterner in the West.^[2][8]
• 1899 – dude up.^[8]
• 1918 – a fellow.^[8]
• 1921 – dude ranch.^[2][4]
• 1966 – any man.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (slang) A man; a fellow.
2. A man who is very concerned with dress and appearance; a dandy.
3. A city person, especially an Easterner, on holiday on a ranch in the American West.

Verb

1. dude up: to dress in fancy clothes.

Word family

• dudish
• dudishly
• dude ranch

Related words

• dandy
• doodle

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press