Dude
Dude once meant a "fancy man" - a city slicker or overdressed feller - long before it turned into the modern "hey, friend." Southerners and Appalachians used it with a wink to rib anyone actin’ too polished for country work.
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Hillbilly Dude Says...
My tiny little Granny - who ran that farm like a champ - when always giggle when she called somebody a 'dude.' I've not heard it used that way (for a fancy man) in decades, but I remember it vividly and fondly. Hillbilly Dude Says...
My tiny little Granny - who ran that farm like a champ - when always giggle when she called somebody a 'dude.' I've not heard it used that way (for a fancy man) in decades, but I remember it vividly and fondly. Pronunciation
[DOOD]
/duːd/
/duːd/
Meaning & Usage
- Fancy or Citified Man (noun, early Southern sense)
Mamaw:
Ain’t he a dude with them patent-leather shoes?
Ain’t he a dude with them patent-leather shoes?
Papaw:
Reckon he ain’t hauled hay a day in his life.
Reckon he ain’t hauled hay a day in his life.- Modern Friendly Term (noun, later sense)
Estel:
Hey dude, hand me that wrench.
Hey dude, hand me that wrench.
Elmer:
Ain’t it somethin’ how words change?
Ain’t it somethin’ how words change?★ In Southern talk of the early 1900s, callin’ a man a dude was closer to callin’ him a peacock - polite but funny. Only later did it mellow into a friendly everyday word. ★
Origin and Etymology
From late-1800s American slang for an overdressed city gentleman. The term spread through newspapers and vaudeville, then filtered south where rural folks used it with good humor. "Dude ranches" of the 1920s kept the word alive nationwide.
Usage Notes
Older Southerners might still say, "He’s a real dude," to mean "he’s dressed up" or "puttin’ on airs." The California surfer sense of "friend" came later and isn’t the one Granny was laughin’ about.