Dudes on Dudes

[jp1]

While I'm at work I often stream a radio station from Boulder CO, KBCO. They recently got a new advertiser. Or IHeartRadio did, but whatever. Anyway, the advertiser is a website called Dudes on Dudes. At first I wasn't listening but the name caught my attention and I was like "whoa! This is not something I expected to hear being advertised on the radio!" It turns out though that it's not a gay porn site, it's a site about bro stuff like sports, geared towards 20-35 year old straight men, probably intending to compete with Barstool Sports. Every time I hear the ad all I can think is "they did not talk to a single gay man about the name before they launched because literally any gay man would have immediately warned them that this was a bad choice of name.

[catherine]

In this current culture, "dude" is an interesting word. My son bought himself and his brother a "White Dudes for Harris" T-shirt and he explicitly told me that he bought the shirts because of the word "Dudes." It wasn't "White Men for Harris" or "White Guys for Harris." It was something about the word "Dudes."

Can you shed light on that, jp? I'm so interested in the nuance of language so I'd love to hear your thoughts and anyone else's thoughts, obviously.

[iris lilies]

my assumption, the word “dude “is probably outdated because I as a 70-year-old lady use it. It’s been around for quite a while and surely it has
run its course.

[catherine]

my assumption, the word “dude “is probably outdated because I as a 70-year-old lady use it. It’s been around for quite a while and surely it has
run its course.

But my son is 46. He spent his money on these T-shirts because they said "White Dudes for Harris"

[bae]

Dude.

https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2014/04/dude-its-still-national-poetry-month/

[Rogar]

I once worked at a dude ranch where it had one meaning. However in recent times I can’t divorce its cultural implications from The Big Lebowski. In a sentence , “The dude abides”.

[bae]

I spent my teen years in San Diego, and was a surfer. Dude.

[Rogar]

I think it has a separate meaning used as the first word in a sentence when addressing another. Usually followed by some sort of indignation or demeaning. As in, dude, didn’t you know that.

[jp1]

In this current culture, "dude" is an interesting word. My son bought himself and his brother a "White Dudes for Harris" T-shirt and he explicitly told me that he bought the shirts because of the word "Dudes." It wasn't "White Men for Harris" or "White Guys for Harris." It was something about the word "Dudes."

Can you shed light on that, jp? I'm so interested in the nuance of language so I'd love to hear your thoughts and anyone else's thoughts, obviously.

I'm not an expert on anything cultural but the word dude seems to be having a renaissance. A couple of years ago a friend bought a product to share with a group of guests that had the word dude in it for that reason specifically in spite of other equally functional, and cheaper, similar products existing. The response was as positive as he hoped it would be.

[littlebittybobby]

okay----one of the currently-inactive members of this forum lives in Doo-Doo town. But yeah---'cordin to this inactive member, "Dude" is no longer a sex-specific term. This means that anyone can be referred to as a "Dude". That said, I have no opinion on the subject, but I never call anyone "Dude". Ha. To me, it's kind of a quasi-cool term, like "Man", like Maynard G. Krebs. I don't care to be quasi-cool, do you? See? Hope that helps you kids some.

[iris lilies]

What about “ bro?” I consider bro a later version of dude.

[Rogar]

I believe the term "girl" is a common female version, though not a perfect match in usage. Girl, that hair do is da bomb.

[iris lilies]

I believe the term "girl" is a common female version, though not a perfect match in usage. Girl, that hair do is da bomb.
Yes, it does seem thet “girl” works in the same way as “bro.”

[pinkytoe]

My 16yo cat is named Dude (from Big Lebowsky) - but sometimes that morphs into Deutornomy or DooDad.

[rosarugosa]

I thought it was "gurl" when used in that context.

[happystuff]

Nothing to add except that I LOVE these types of threads! ROFLOL

[catherine]

Dude.

https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2014/04/dude-its-still-national-poetry-month/

Thank you for that article. I'm going to pass the link along to my son! He'll appreciate it.