Dude

Do you think you overuse the word ''dude''? A lot of people say that's one of their most overused words. People make a list of their overused words and a lot of people have ''dude'' in their list.

No, my dialect is very non-Californian. I tend to say "man" a lot more than "dude."

...and a lot of people have ''dude'' in their list.

ON their list

Oh, the overuse of ''dude'' is mainly a Californian thing.

It's origin in colloquial slang is mainly California surfer talk, but lots of people around the country say it now. Of course, it's real origin is from Western cowboy talk. I just happen not to say "dude."

I don't overuse 'man' and I never say 'dude'. The same applies to most of my friends, as most of them are also immigrants (though they're mostly from Asia). The typical-Californian-stock whites in my school, who are quite rare in a sea of immigrants, do indeed overuse 'dude'.

I think I overuse 'maybe', 'perhaps', and 'probably' in my speech.

I don't know if I over use it, but I do use it with some frequency. I like it, it's so versitile!

I will often use the word "dude" when speaking with friends and peers. What Alice said goes for me too...I use it frequently, but not to the point where it becomes obnoxious.

i heard that another meaning of dude was a zit on a donkey's ass....don'tknow if that one's true.

I never use it.

Jim, You never use which meaning of ''dude''.

Etymology-Online says:

dude - 1883, "fastidious man," New York City slang of unknown origin. The vogue word of 1883, originally used in ref. to the devotees of the "aesthetic" craze, later applied to city slickers, especially Easterners vacationing in the West (dude ranch first recorded 1921). Surfer slang application to any male is first recorded c.1970. Female form dudine (1883) has precedence over dudess (1885).

Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology says:

It comes probably from a German dialect Dude "fool".

I tend to say 'like' and 'nevermind' a lot. To a fault maybe. The word 'dude' derived from California but has really become known as an all-American word. I live in Texas and hear it on a regular basis.

I think 'mate' is a British counterpart for 'dude'.
I never heard the word in America.