An alternative to "gentlemen"

[English Bloke]

I am sufficiently reassured. I thank you.

Stand by for Action!

[James Hood]

If memory serves, "dude" originated as a "non-honour" informally but definitively assigned by late 19th--20th century American Westerners (ranchers and "cowboys") to newcomer poseurs or at best, wannabes entering their world.

The "Dude" was recognized by new clothing and inability to "properly" ride, rope, shoot...endure...and had not earned the right to be a member of their society. "Tenderfoot" also applied, though may have been slightly different in definition.

Ergo, a query; why do some X Marks forum people wish to identify themselves therewith?

[Alan H]

*deleted*

[Lyle1]

If memory serves, "dude" originated as a "non-honour" informally but definitively assigned by late 19th--20th century American Westerners (ranchers and "cowboys") to newcomer poseurs or at best, wannabes entering their world.

The "Dude" was recognized by new clothing and inability to "properly" ride, rope, shoot...endure...and had not earned the right to be a member of their society. "Tenderfoot" also applied, though may have been slightly different in definition.

Ergo, a query; why do some X Marks forum people wish to identify themselves therewith?

Read all of the possible meanings, and if necessary, buy a dictionary that was published within the last ten years!

[robthehiker]

Read all of the possible meanings, and if necessary, buy a dictionary that was published within the last ten years!

Oh, like this one?


dude
[dood, dyood]
- noun 1.man excessively concerned with his clothes

[BoldHighlander]

If memory serves, "dude" originated as a "non-honour" informally but definitively assigned by late 19th--20th century American Westerners (ranchers and "cowboys") to newcomer poseurs or at best, wannabes entering their world.

The "Dude" was recognized by new clothing and inability to "properly" ride, rope, shoot...endure...and had not earned the right to be a member of their society. "Tenderfoot" also applied, though may have been slightly different in definition.

Ergo, a query; why do some X Marks forum people wish to identify themselves therewith?

Read all of the possible meanings, and if necessary, buy a dictionary that was published within the last ten years!

Not to stir the pot, but.....
most of my friends in the Great Basin region of Oregon/Nevada and up & down the western states who make their living out of the saddle still use "dude" in that manner.
These same modern day vaqueros & buckaroos (as they're called out here) also refer to each other on occasion as "gentlemen" (or shortened to "that gent'" etc). Just sayin'

[gary meakin]

Oh, like this one?


dude
[dood, dyood]
- noun 1.man excessively concerned with his clothes

Priceless!

[macwilkin]

Not to stir the pot, but.....
most of my friends in the Great Basin region of Oregon/Nevada and up & down the western states who make their living out of the saddle still use "dude" in that manner.
These same modern day vaqueros & buckaroos (as they're called out here) also refer to each other on occasion as "gentlemen" (or shortened to "that gent'" etc). Just sayin'

***. The noted cowboy poet Gail Gardner, who resided in my father's hometown of Prescott, Arizona, once wrote a poem entitled "The Dude Wrangler", which contained the following description of a former cowpuncher who hired on with a "Dude Ranch":

He had his boots outside his britches;
They was made of leather green and red,
His shirt was of a dozen colors,
Loud enough to wake the dead.

Around his neck he had a 'kerchief,
Knotted through a silver ring;
I swear to Gawd he had a wrist-watch,
Who ever heard of such a thing.

-- The full poem can be read here:

http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/cowbo...abull_dude.htm

Then there's "The Zebra Dun", which includes these lines at the conclusion:

"Well, there's one thing, and a sure thing,
I've learned since I've been born,
That every educated feller
ain't a plumb greenhorn."

It can be found in the online collection of Alan Lomax's cowboy songs at the University of Nebraska:

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishunsllc/12/

Of course, as a historian by vocation and avocation, I tend to use sources that are more than 10 years old.

T.

[BoldHighlander]

Todd, I'll see your *** with a *** of my own!

***. The noted cowboy poet Gail Gardner, who resided in my father's hometown of Prescott, Arizona, once wrote a poem entitled "The Dude Wrangler", which contained the following description of a former cowpuncher who hired on with a "Dude Ranch":

He had his boots outside his britches;
They was made of leather green and red,
His shirt was of a dozen colors,
Loud enough to wake the dead.

Around his neck he had a 'kerchief,
Knotted through a silver ring;
I swear to Gawd he had a wrist-watch,
Who ever heard of such a thing.

-- The full poem can be read here:

http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/cowbo...abull_dude.htm

Then there's "The Zebra Dun", which includes these lines at the conclusion:

"Well, there's one thing, and a sure thing,
I've learned since I've been born,
That every educated feller
ain't a plumb greenhorn."

It can be found in the online collection of Alan Lomax's cowboy songs at the University of Nebraska:

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishunsllc/12/

Of course, as a historian by vocation and avocation, I tend to use sources that are more than 10 years old.

T.

[macwilkin]

Todd, I'll see your *** with a *** of my own!

I forgot to mention that my great-uncle, who was a bona fide cowboy in Northern Arizona (before he settled down and ran restaurants and motor courts on Route 66) used to refer to Dudes as "Drugstore Cowboys".

T.