4 ms·

I would think "dude" would be more confusing. - "Dude" = cool - "Dude" = come on man, really? - "Dude!" = WTF man, I should punch you in the face - "Dude!"

I would think "dude" would be more confusing. - "Dude" = cool - "Dude" = come on man, really? - "Dude!" = WTF man, I should punch you in the face - "Dude!" = holy crap, I just got that girl's number! - "Dude?" = who's there, is there a killer in my house? - "Dude?" = no shit, for real? - "Dude!?" = why'd you sleep with my sister?! - "Dude" = hey Steve - "Dude." = not cool bro - "Dude!!!" = you're not gonna believe this! - "Dude" = stfu before the cop maces you, idiot. - "Dude..." = did we just see that car flip and roll 11 times down the hill, do you think anyone is alive, I can't believe that just happened - "Dude." = look man, you're really drunk and me and my girl are trying to have a nice walk and you really need to turn around and walk in the opposite direction of us. Etc etc, I'm sure you get the point.

senorjazz 7y ago
Is that north American wide or just certain groups in certain states though?
- irrational 7y ago
  OP's post was pretty much my entire vocabulary growing up in South Florida in the 80s. That's one data point ;-)
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  Bud Light had a commercial some years back where it's just them using 'dude' a bunch of different ways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMSSe7cOvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMSSe7cOvA I've also seen it used in stand up several times and I feel like at least one film.
  - vidarh 7y ago
    > and I feel like at least one film. "Dude, Where's My Car?" Half the dialogue (ok, I'm probably exaggerating a little bit) is the word "dude". Often repeated many times in different intonations.
    - ryanmercer 7y ago
      They even poke fun of it some in it with the "Dude, what's mine say?" "Sweet, what's mine say?" "Dude, what's mine say?!" "Sweet! What's mine say?!"
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  It's certain subgroups. Dude is not really part of my vocabulary and I don't often run into it being used by others.
- wil421 7y ago
  The same thing could me applied to man, bro, bra (bro with an a sound), or bruh depending on your location or background.
- chapium 7y ago
  Pretty sure this one is pretty widely used in the states. I cannot speak for Canada.
vidarh 7y ago
Many words or expressions basically get used as a proxy to carry intonation that has these meanings. E.g most of the examples above fall in a small set of categories of expressing excitement, incredulity etc. where the carrying word is of less importance. E.g. you can express "cool" or incredulity with "dude", "mate", "fuck", "bro", "awesome", "neat", "man", and I'm sure many others by just layering the same intonation on them; not all intonations will "work" or carry the same meaning on the same set of words (e.g. expressing anger works fine with "fuck" or "bro" or "dude", but not really with "awesome" or "neat" unless you want to give off really confusing mixed emotions) or to the same groups of people, though, so it's certainly somewhat mediated by the meanings of the underlying word, but often surprisingly little. There certainly are words that are more malleable that way, and words like dude and fuck are high on the list, perhaps because they as standalone expressions carry very little specific meaning in the word itself that can interfere with the intonation and expressed emotional content.
diegoperini 7y ago
Maybe due to the language or culture barrier, I don't get why you are down-voted.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  I'm guessing some of it is an age thin with some early-mid 20,s people viewing the thread. "Dude" was all over tv and movies in the 90's and early 2000's.

senorjazz 7y ago

Is that north American wide or just certain groups in certain states though?

irrational 7y ago
OP's post was pretty much my entire vocabulary growing up in South Florida in the 80s. That's one data point ;-)
ryanmercer 7y ago
Bud Light had a commercial some years back where it's just them using 'dude' a bunch of different ways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMSSe7cOvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMSSe7cOvA I've also seen it used in stand up several times and I feel like at least one film.
- vidarh 7y ago
  > and I feel like at least one film. "Dude, Where's My Car?" Half the dialogue (ok, I'm probably exaggerating a little bit) is the word "dude". Often repeated many times in different intonations.
  - ryanmercer 7y ago
    They even poke fun of it some in it with the "Dude, what's mine say?" "Sweet, what's mine say?" "Dude, what's mine say?!" "Sweet! What's mine say?!"
DoreenMichele 7y ago
It's certain subgroups. Dude is not really part of my vocabulary and I don't often run into it being used by others.
wil421 7y ago
The same thing could me applied to man, bro, bra (bro with an a sound), or bruh depending on your location or background.
chapium 7y ago
Pretty sure this one is pretty widely used in the states. I cannot speak for Canada.

vidarh 7y ago

Many words or expressions basically get used as a proxy to carry intonation that has these meanings. E.g most of the examples above fall in a small set of categories of expressing excitement, incredulity etc. where the carrying word is of less importance. E.g. you can express "cool" or incredulity with "dude", "mate", "fuck", "bro", "awesome", "neat", "man", and I'm sure many others by just layering the same intonation on them; not all intonations will "work" or carry the same meaning on the same set of words (e.g. expressing anger works fine with "fuck" or "bro" or "dude", but not really with "awesome" or "neat" unless you want to give off really confusing mixed emotions) or to the same groups of people, though, so it's certainly somewhat mediated by the meanings of the underlying word, but often surprisingly little. There certainly are words that are more malleable that way, and words like dude and fuck are high on the list, perhaps because they as standalone expressions carry very little specific meaning in the word itself that can interfere with the intonation and expressed emotional content.

diegoperini 7y ago

Maybe due to the language or culture barrier, I don't get why you are down-voted.

ryanmercer 7y ago
I'm guessing some of it is an age thin with some early-mid 20,s people viewing the thread. "Dude" was all over tv and movies in the 90's and early 2000's.