"dudo", 1840, meaning ???

[George Thompson]

"duds" seems very likely.  This paper is available in NYC, and I will make a
note to check which of us made the typo, me or the Courier, when I get a
chance.

GAT

On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 1:41 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>wrote:

> Not at all likely to be "dude."  My guess is it's a misprint for "duds"
> (clothes),
> and this was the term used by the women when the police or reporter showed
> up.
> ---- G. Cohen
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Original message from George Thompson, Thu 6/23/2011 12:27 PM:
>
>     *Mayhem*. -- On Friday evening three black wenches residing at 40
> Wooster st. . . . , got into a wrangle about some *dudo* claimed as the
> common property of the trio.    ***
>     Morning Courier & New-York Enquirer, June 8, 1840, p. 2, col. 3
>
> My notes don't make it explicit that the "dudo" (which was italicized) was
> a
> person, specifically a man, but presumably so.
> Can this be connected with the word "dude", not recorded until about 40
> years later?
> GAT
> George A. Thompson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ.
Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org