AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Dude12/3/2023 Nobody uses “dude” in the traditional sense today. And by the end of the 19th century, people had gotten sick of saying the full “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” So around 1883, people (particularly in New York) started shortening it to “doods,” alternatively spelled “dudes.” The word was used in response to a certain fashion that was in vogue in the 1880s, but by the 1890s it had already become more general to refer to the “elite” who lived in cities. The phrase never fully went away, however. In the late 18th century, Americans started singing a song called “Yankee Doodle” that embraced the term. Americans took the phrase and started wearing it as a badge of honor. “Yankee Doodle” was an insult that the British applied to pretty much any American, but “Yankee Doodle Dandy” specifically applied to people who aspired to make money and join the upper class, copying British styles to look more refined. ![]() Lastly, “Dandy” is an English word referring to the ridiculously well-dressed in the 18th century. “Yankee” was a word originally used by Dutch colonists to insult their fellow English colonists in the “New World.” “Doodle” is a word possibly derived from the German word Dödel, meaning “fool,” but it was also a slang term for the male genitalia, so you can conclude what you want. The phrase first came into use in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War, and was used as an insult by the Brits against the Americans. When they concluded their project, they came to the conclusion that it’s a shortening of a once popular phrase: Yankee Doodle Dandy. How did a word like “dude” get chosen to describe this specific type of guy in the 1880s? In the past few years, researchers including Garry Popik and Gerald Cohen decided to get to the bottom of the story, and searched through archives to find as many early instances of “dude” as possible. It described a certain kind of (usually male) person who styled themselves in a way that made them look richer than they actually were. All people did know is that in the late 1800s, people started using “dude” to refer to well-dressed, foppish Americans. The Origins Of “Dude”įor a while, no one knew where the word “dude” came from. Despite all the linguistic upheaval of the last 150 years, “dude” abides. Its meaning has shifted a tremendous amount since the word first appeared in the late 19th century, and it’s appeared in countless examples of pop culture. Looking back on the history of “dude,” though, it’s a bit surprising it’s become an ever-present part of American English. ![]() Few words in the English language are as flexible as “dude.” At its simplest, it’s just something to call someone, in the same vein as “person” or “guy,” but neither of those really get at the full meaning of “dude.” It’s a term that can fit in so many different situations, from the best of friends (“I love you, dude”) to the bitterest of enemies (“What the heck, dude?”).
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |