[Ads-l] dude = 'person of any gender'

[Barretts Mail]

In season one, second episode, about 20 minutes in, there is a vocative or interjection usage of “dude” used to a goat. The goat has gotten its head caught in a fence. An argument could be made for this being anthropomorphizing but I think the applicability of “dude” can cover non-humans without the need for that argument. 

I know this term has been discussed, but non-mail coverage is sparse win dictionaries. The OED (3a) says “dude” means a person and usually a man, and has two example sentences of vocatives.

Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dude <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dude>) has the vocative but claims it means only “fellow, guy”. 

Cambridge University Press (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/dude <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/dude>), Lexico (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/dude <https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/dude>), and Vocabulary.com (https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dude <https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dude>) say it only means “man”. 

Dictionary.com (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dude <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dude>) has an interjection meaning. 

I’m not going to through the UD; there are 242 pages of entries (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dude <https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dude>) and am reasonably sure at least 50 definitions get it right.

Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 27 Jan 2021, at 09:57, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Not new, but worth noting:
> 
> Gina McCarthy, White House Climate Adviser (age 66), on CNN just now:
> 
> "I'm the dude who's supposed to deliver this in a timely way."


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