Where does the word Dude originate from ? is it a pimple on a horses ***?

Answer 1

1

Answer 2

I copied this from an online dictionary........Etymology: origin unknown
1 : a man extremely fastidious in dress and manner : DANDY
2 : a city dweller unfamiliar with life on the range; especially : an Easterner in the West
3 : FELLOW, GUY -- sometimes used informally as a term of address

Answer 3

New York City slang of unknown origin used to indicate a fastidious man, first used around 1883. Became surfer slang around 1970.

Answer 4

Horse Zit

Answer 5

No. Although the word Dude has more or less unknown origins, it's always been used to reference a man.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-12-08-dude_x.htm

Answer 6

There is no definitive origin of the word dude.[citation needed] There is recent scholarship that explains the origin of the word as Irish. The Compact Oxford Dictionary suggests it comes from a German dialect word meaning 'fool'. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang cites an 1877 reference in an unpublished private letter of the painter and sculptor known for Western themes, Frederick Remington: "Don't send me any more women or any more dudes," he told a correspondent who was sending him sketches. "Dude" first appeared in print in 1878. The word made the rounds of New York City slang of ca 1883, referring to a fastidiously sharp dresser, affecting sophistication. This is what the late 18th century British would have referred to as a "dandy", which brings us to the compelling theory that "dude" was actually derived from the "Doodle" of the song "Yankee Doodle".[original research?]

Yankee Doodle went to town, A-riding on a pony.
Stuck a feather in his cap, and called it "macaroni"
Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle Dandy
Mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy
The song was allegedly composed by the British in mockery of American colonists during the French and Indian war—the British soldiers being decked out in their royal uniforms, while their colonial allies, or yankees, wore homemade attire that was more practical but less fancy.[citation needed] So "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was a satirical take on colonial coarseness. A "macaroni" was a British slang term for French or Italian attire, thus a man who had travelled to Paris or Rome, and adopted their style, affecting a high level of sophistication, was the definitive dandy. Yankee Doodle is so unsophisticated that when he sticks the feather in his cap and calls it "macaroni", he believes he is being fashionable. The British popularized the song during the Revolutionary War, but the colonists in their victory eventually embraced the song as their own, showing pride in their lack of affected sophistication (See Dr. Audra Himes analysis at YourDictionary). The song kept up the spirts of the soldiers as they went into battle.

The vogue word of 1883, was quickly applied to dressed-up city slickers, especially Easterners vacationing in the West, who affected elaborate 'Wild West' get-ups as paying visitors at a "dude ranch." The dude in "dude ranch" was a figure of mockery; an urban Easterner affecting the look and lifestyle of the Western cowboy, but only on a temporary basis (i.e.: during his vacation). This dude is a tourist, lacking authenticity, and not deserving of respect. How this term of mockery eventually came into use by 'surfer dudes' is unclear. Did the surfers adopt this term of mockery, just as the colonial dandies had, turning it into a sincere term of respect for each other? Or was it transformed by actual cowboys, and then later adopted by the surfers?[original research?]

Interestingly, as dude has once again entered the pop lexicon over the last three decades it has taken the form of mockery, irony, and finally, nearly complete acceptance. In its current usage, dude has crossed the gender barrier (and is now used as a term of affection among certain couples who have adopted it as an acknowledgement of equality), and indeed it is easier to describe whom the term does not apply to, than who it does.[


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude#Origins