LL-L "Etymology" 2004.08.27 (11) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 27.AUG.2004 (11) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Etymology


Good afternoon, Lowlanders!

I wonder if anyone has any idea where the American slang term _dude_ comes
from. I did a search in the Lowlands archives and this doesn't seem to have
been mentioned before (though Ron did mention it as a characteristic of
surfer speech in California).

No doubt as a result of the influence of Hollywood, and US serials on TV the
term is catching on here in the UK also. I would be grateful if someone
could suggest what its origins are.

John Duckworth
Preston, UK.

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Hi, John!

I myself have long wondered about the etymology of "dude."  Apparently, you
and I aren't the only ones, but it looks like no one has come up with a
plausible explanation so far.  I keep trying to come up with possibilities
involving Castilian (Spanish), which used to be a main source of cowboy
vocabulary.  ¡Ay!, no he tenido ningún éxito hasta ahora.  Furthermore, the
Oxford English Dictionary seems to contradict this possibility:

<quote>
[A factitious slang term which came into vogue in New York about the
beginning of 1883, in connexion with the ‘æsthetic’ craze of that day.
Actual origin not recorded.]
</quote>

So then I keep thinking, "Could it have come from Dutch, French or an
aboriginal languages of the American northeast coast region?"

Anyway, for those List members that aren't familiar with it, there is some
material below.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

***

<quote>
Cowboys and the Wild West are indelibly set in the minds of many as typical
of America—an association borne out by several common Modern English words
that originated in the speech of the 19th-century western United States. One
is _dude_, now perhaps most familiar as a slang term with a wide range of
uses (including use as an all-purpose interjection for expressing approval:
_“Dude!”_). Originally it was applied to fancy-dressed city folk who went
out west on vacation. In this usage it first appears in the 1870s. The
origin of the word is not known, but a number of other cowboy terms were
borrowed by early settlers from American Spanish. These include _buckaroo,
corral, lasso, mustang, ranch, rodeo_, and _stampede_. _Buckaroo_,
interestingly, is an example of a word borrowed twice: it is an Americanized
form of Spanish vaquero, which also made it into English as _vaquero_, a
cowboy.
</quote>
The American Heritage® Dictionary

Even better (mentioning "Yankee Doodle" and giving examples of usage):
http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/D/Dude.htm

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