what is the foundation for the greeting "dude"?

Question

two men approach each other and remark "dude wasup?"

Answer 1

dude - Origin: 1877

As the frontier of the Wild West began to be tamed, a certain kind of young American male turned his attention eastward, to the frontier of the civilized world of fashion. Instead of the somber black worn by his forefathers, he chose checks and bright colors. Instead of full-cut outer garments, he wore skintight hip-hugging pants, snug shirts and short jackets. His collar was tall, stiff and starched. His conversation was...well, consider this from an article on "The American 'Dude'" in 1885: "He may talk with a lisp, but when he converses on his favorite topic--woman--his conversation is peculiarly juicy. He is coldly doubtful and suspicious and ignorant of everything which the solid portion of the community regards as of great importance, but of actresses, wine and horses he can discourse feelingly." As for his costume, "his nether integuments fit like knit underwear."

Dude is recorded as early as 1877 in the words of those who were not impressed. "Don't send me any more [drawings of] women or any more dudes," grumbled the young Frederic Remington at school in 1877, preparing for his career as a Western artist. "Send me Indians, cowboys, villains or toughs." In 1879 a book titled Fighting Indians says that the garrison of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, "was at that time composed of dude soldiers, pets of dress parade officers." In the next century, however, westerners got theirs back from dudes at dude ranches (1921).

Early in 1883 the dude became the rage of New York City, starting with a poem in the newspaper The World on "The True Origin and History of 'The Dude.'" That word was said to be a great improvement on masher (1875) by another write who added that "The discovery or invention of Dood should be hailed with joyous acclaim."

The African-American use of dude as a synonym for "man" seems to be a descendant of this nineteenth-century character. From that usage it entered general American conversation, especially among young people, meaning "man" in the 1960s and as a general exclamation in the 1980s.

Answer 2

Dude was a greenhorn usually in fancy dress. It is a diminution of the title duke. The word became popular with the jazz poets once called beatniks. The blacks took it up to describe the fancy dress of a pimp. It is from them that the current usage comes.