Scott Kiesling focuses on the address term dude in the article Dude (2004), whereby the term’s pattern of use, meanings, and functions are highlighted. The author is an American sociolinguist prompted to research dude’s functions and implications in the American culture by his undying interests in gender and language. Dude portrays a specific pattern of use influenced by its societal functions and meanings, thus explaining its high usage and enhanced popularity.
Dude is mostly used by the younger generation of European American men when addressing one another and partly by women. Kiesling (2004) reports that “… dude is used primarily by men speaking to other men, but not exclusively so… young women also used the term a significant amount…” (p. 287, p. 284). Moreover, contextual and grammatical relevance determines the pattern of the usage of dude , including its intonation. Therefore, factors such as gender and location influence the degree of the use of dude .
Dude has five interactional functions that overlap and illustrate how the term engulfs masculine homo-sociality. These functions are gesturing agreements, marking attachment and connection, marking the discourse structure, mitigating stances of confrontations, and exclamation (Kiesling, 2004). Dude can either be applied to more than a single function or be ambiguous; hence the functions are not entirely exclusive. The word is an interactive resource that creates several stances, as illustrated by the uses listed above.
The term dude rose to popularity in the 1980s because the youths used it as an exclamation to illustrate affection and delight. Therefore, dude was used as an in-group term to indicate solidarity since its inception as described by history (Kiesling, 2004). The in-group and solidarity meanings stick with the term to present and are the stances highlighted upon the word’s usage. The rapid rise and popularity of dude is arguably an attribute of the reinstatement of new puritanism that emphasizes family values and hard work supported by solidarity.
Dude’s use pattern is determined by its functions and discourse relevance and influenced its encroachment in Anglo-American society. Male youths of European American descent use the term more than their female counterparts. Additionally, the term satisfies five overlapping functions and meanings in interaction. Dude encodes a principal masculinity stance that enhanced the term’s rise and popularity. The dude is a shadow of the 1980s and 1990s constantly gathered over generations.