Guys for Girls Redux

[Baker, John]

        I checked WestLaw's allnewsplus file, which lists 676 articles with "dudette(s)," of which all but 84 also use the word "dude(s)."  The earliest use of "dudette" by itself is from the Houston Chronicle, Nov. 22, 1986:

        >>Yes, Virginia - you bop-till-it-hurts-so-good dudette - there really is a Power Tools for dancing fools.  It's a down (as in underground) and dirty hole for people like you who say cut the talk and let's dance, dance, dance.<<

        The joint usage is only slightly earlier (though, frankly, the quality of WestLaw's coverage drops off sharply for periods more than 10 or 15 years ago), with an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 19, 1986.  The Sun-Times article uses "For dudes and dudettes" to mean couples as a heading in a travel article; the other headings are "For young sea and sun lovers" and "For the rich cruise crowd."

        "Dude" seems to be implicit in "dudette," whether or not explicitly mentioned - a dance club, for example, is a place to meet dudes - but it does not seem to be necessary to use dudette only in the primed context.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Laurence Horn [mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 11:27 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Guys for Girls Redux


I know there's at least a limited use of "dudette", but perhaps only
jocularly and only in the primed context ("dudes and dudettes").

Larry