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Comments on Etymology

Language(s)

English

Content

1. Abstract ......................................................................... 2

2. A look at Yankee Doodle ..................................................... 3

a. Evidence from an 1879 New England newspaper article: 'Yankee Doodle' as a term to ridicule a dandy ...................... 3

b. May 1883 Clothier and Furnisher article suggests dude derives from Yankee Doodle Dandy ... ...... ...... ...... ... ...........4

c. Mike Vuolo: Derivation of dude from doodle was evidently first put forth in 1900 by Alfred Nutt but then withdrawn for unclear reasons......................... 6

3. PETER REITAN: Don't overlook fop doodle ............................ 7

4. PETER REITAN: More 1883 newspaper articles on 'dude' .......... 14

a. Feb. 25, 1883, Chicago Tribune, W.A. Croffutt: 'The Genus "Dude" in All His Manifestations of Gorgeous Idiocy' .......................................................... 15

P. Reitan: Background on W.A. Croffutt ............................. 15

b. April 8, 1883 - Springfield Republican, 'Where the Word Dude Came From' (note: Salem, NH) .............................. 17

c. April 14, National Republican (Washington D.C.), based on the April 8 Springfield Republican report ..................... 19

d. April 25, 1883, Spirit Of The Age (Woodstock, Vermont) ......... .19

e. May 3, 1883, Green Bay [Wisc.] Advocate. LeMieux claims 'dude' in local high-school use by 1861. ............................. 20

5. Selected references ........................................................... 24

6. Index ........................................................................... 30

Abstract

The overall picture is that we likely deal with the dual influence of Yankee Doodle and the now archaic British term fop doodle (a silly fop).

If dude existed prior to Robert Sale Hill's Jan. 14, 1883, poem 'The Dude,' it most likely derives solely from 'Yankee Doodle.' He was the country bumpkin who stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni; i.e., by sticking a feather in his cap, he saw himself as fashionable as the young British men of his day known as 'macaronis,' an idea that must have struck the British as hilarious. Similarly, the 1880s Anglomaniac New York City dudes made themselves ridiculous by imagining their attire and overall behavior to be the height of fashion.

There are indications that the term dude had a limited existence already prior to Hill's 1883 poem, but no earlier attestations have been found. None of the various suggestions have panned out.

However, if dude was coined by Robert Sale Hill, it likely derives from the dual influence of Yankee Doodle and British fop doodle (silly fop). Hill came to the U.S. from England and was therefore almost certainly aware of the then current term fop doodle. And from living in the U.S., he must also have been familiar with Yankee Doodle.

In another vein, a contemporary of R.S. Hill (W.A. Croffutt, 1883) wrote, '"Dude" is a corruption of dodo,' probably in reference to the prominent role played by the dodo in Hill's poem; Croffutt gives no indication he received the 'dodo' information in conversation with Hill. But it seems more likely that Yankee Doodle and fop doodle played the key role in the origin of' dude,' and then in parlor-game mode Hill connected 'dood' (dude) with dodo (by their common feature of stupidity).

Also, Peter Reitan has drawn my attention to several more 1883 newspaper items pertaining to 'dude.' A look at those items raises the question: Did Salem, New Hampshire (or anywhere else) really have 'dude' or a related form like 'dood/doody' prior to 1883? The answer is almost certainly no; no attestation of it has appeared in print anywhere. But if, by surprise, an unnoticed document shows up with pre-1883 dude/dood(y), its use would be very limited (e.g. in the small town of Salem, N.H.), and how would Hill have learned of it? He never visited the places where pre-1883 dude/doody supposedly existed.

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