Preface

The English Language is bespeckled with such a delicious array of words and phrases. Speaking this global business language as a first language, I thought I knew enough English vocabulary to survive most books and conversations. But after a mere few days at my first real job, I felt like a foreigner, unable to understand many of the phrases other co-workers were using. What are these things called "idioms"? Did they just spring up within the past year? Why I wasn't taught these growing up?

This a blog to capture my frustration with the language I thought I knew so well, to aide those who also lack an understanding of idioms, and to perhaps provide a bit of entertainment on the side.

Enjoy.


Thursday, February 25, 2010

Dude, 2009, where'd you go?

Don't get me wrong: I was an idiot all through 2009.  I just must have been distracted during the entire year.  So here it is 2010, and I miss this blog.

There's a girl from Puerto Rico here in the lower-48 states for a while.  She wanted to know what it meant to use the word "dude" in a greeting.  "Hey, dude."  She said she was taken aback when a boy-of-interest used it with her.  She thought, "dude?  I'm not a dude..."  So I take a step back and think... what does dude really mean?  So I start with...

"well... literally, the word dude is another name for a cowboy.  Like Dude Ranch.  But that's not typical."

Then she interjected "so, you can say Hi Cowboy?"

Um.... no...  no... Don't do that.  unless you say *get the sexy voice going* "how ya doing, cowboy?..."

I receive a quizzical look from the Puerto Rican.

"But... that would mean you think he's wild... no...  So... dude is more like a California surfer kind of phrase... like you're high... or you wish you were high... or you're trying really hard to be cool... or... or you're just from California and you don't have to be a surfer...."

She asks "so, is it a good thing?"

I don't know... maybe not?  If a guy of interest said "hey dude" to me, my spirits would sink...

Who knew that "dude" was such a complicated word?