Dude

“Who uses the word dude? How do people see the word?” Dude, an untranslatable word, has many different meanings but to most that use it, the word usually tends to have one meaning. Many see the word as being a male in gender, but many also tend to use the word for both genders. Dude came about in eighteen seventy-three when it was first used in speech. One of the earliest books to use the term was the Home and Farm Manual. Jonathan Periam, who wrote the book, used the term several times to denote an ignorant man from the city. Originally, dude referred to the hair at the base of a horse's tail. In the late eighteen hundreds, horse ranches became known as "dude ranches". And therefore, the men who worked on a dude ranch became known as "dudes". Dude quickly spread to California. There many of the surfers picked up the term and used it quite often. From New York to California, the term dude spread quickly throughout the United States.
The term “dude” may also be used as a job description: for example, the man that runs a bush hook as a job, his title would be called “the bush hook dude.” Later it was used in the old west to mean a city person who moved to the west without actually knowing what he was doing. It is synonymous with “city-slicker.” Dude can be used to interrupt another person’s conversation, attract one's attention, or to awake a stoner from a staring spell. It is synonymous with "excuse me" or "pardon me." Another very interesting definition of dude, reportedly, is the camel’s penis or the hair on the end of an elephants’ butt. I cannot find outside evidence to corroborate this, but I have actually had a person tell me that, and it is an element of popular “wisdom” that dude carries such a meaning.
“Dude” is mostly used by people as a noun referring to a person. “Dude, how did you do that?” Dude is taking the place of the name of the person the speaker is talking to. “Dude, you played a great game yesterday.” It can also be used as a verb: “to get dude up,” or to dress in one’s best clothing. “He is getting dude up for the wedding tonight.” This would be an example of getting dude up, or looking the best that he possibly can. But why do people use this word? Many choose to use the word mainly because it is friendly, informal, and not at all boring. It can be used as any kind of response to any question that one might have. “Do you want to go to the park and play some baseball?”...... “Dude!” In this case the responder is saying yes I would love to and sounds excited about going to the park. Dude can also have a softening or connecting effect when the word is used. Someone at a concert is standing on your toe. “Dude,” lets them know that you are on the same level as them, or that you are “cool with” them.
In the community of friends that I spent my entire life with, “dude” was very popular and was used in many various occasions. It can be used in a sentence to replace umm or like when a person is thinking about completing a sentence. “And then...dude...dude...dude, man I forgot.” This is an example of completing a sentence with the word dude. On the other hand we have “Duuuude, how did you complete the whole game with a broken arm?” or “Oh my god! That teacher was so stoned; Cameron and I were both like "Duuuude." These are examples where the term dude is used with emphasis. Saying the word dude is also a whole lot easier than remembering everyone’s names. Many people respond to the word and everyone answered to it coming up through middle and high school. I myself grew up using and hearing the word dude at a very young age. It seems like it just comes naturally to use the term these days. The word has spread throughout the United States very rapidly since it came about, so most people know what you are saying when you use the term. I was vacationing in Philadelphia this summer when I could not find a bathroom in the Philadelphia Phillies baseball stadium. I walked around until I found an employee of the park and said, “Dude, could you please tell me where the bathroom is.” I got a quick response from the worker and hurried to the restroom. The circle of friends that I mainly hung out with just substituted dude for everybody’s name. It made it a lot easier in talking to one another. “Dude, do you want to go to the baseball game with us?” The person the speaker is talking to would respond with, “Yeah, sure dude I would love to go.” The tone of the word in the way that I and my friends used it was very laid back and “chill” (relaxing, friendly, and easy-going). When I was riding my bike one day I fell and broke both of my arms. All I could say to my friend was “dude!” meaning, I think I messed myself up pretty bad and you need to go get some help. That was not a “chill” way of using the word; it was kind of a cry for help on my part. My friend, on the other hand, looked at me and all he could say was “dude”. But, the tone in which he was saying the word was plaintive, more like “Dude? dude….dude” almost as if he were asking what do I do? The word can also connect people or show that they are on the same level. I was at a concert one time when a stranger was standing on my toe. I said “dude” and while smiling at her, she apologized and then bought me a drink not too long after that.
Dude can also be taken negatively by some people depending on the quality and tone that are demanded. Older adults see the word and other words we use in our language as being inarticulate. Some people may have never heard of the word before and take it as being offensive. “Look at that dude man over there; he is not doing his job right.” Well I heard this when I was at work one day in the warehouse and the gentleman over heard the others conversation as I did. He turned around and said, “This dude man is doing more work than you, just sitting there running your mouth.” The situation never got too terribly serious but the worker said he would like to be called by his name instead of just some dude. “Dude, what the crap?” this can be taken negatively also just because of the demand or emphasis of the question. A man walks in the house with a gun. The occupants of the house are like “Dude!?” meaning, are you going to kill us with that gun? Many people that use the word often do not see the word at all being negative. There are very few times that I have experienced someone taking the term dude in an offensive or a wrong way.
The term dude is used all over the world and is seen as a universal pronoun. Dude has evolved in the English language from eighteen seventy-three to the present day as a pronoun and sometimes used as a verb. It is used to inform, ask questions, and has many other jobs. The word can be taken negatively or positively depending on the way the speaker is using the word. In my community we just used the word most of the time to refer to the person that we are talking to. On other occasions we used the word to answer questions as a one word answer. We also used the word when some person says something really stupid that there is nothing else to say but dude. I see the word dude becoming a common word in everybody’s vocabulary in the upcoming years. I also see that only the younger to mid-generation group use the word. Our generation in our time is bringing the word back. The question still comes about “Why do people use the word?” It is not in the dictionary and is said to be improper English by many people. If so many people around the country use the word and it has evolved into the English language, why can we not use the word in proper English? Even though it is not proper English many people accept the word and the person that is speaking the word. For me, it just comes natural. Everybody from my community sounds like they are from California, very laid-back. It seems like a Bob Marley style.

Hokie Footall

‘"Coming off of last week and people asking, 'Could we get back up?' 'How much is that going to hurt us?' 'Mentally, what did it do to us?'" Coach Frank Beamer said. "I thought our kids and coaches went out there and gave them a response today,” said Beamer after the win over Marshall.
This was a must win football game said by many fans for the Hokies this weekend. Hokies came back strong to defeat the number 15 Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday evening. Tyrod Taylor would come through in a very exciting fourth quarter as the game ended 16-15. Our Hokie quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, found Danny Coale running along the sideline all alone and wide open in the 80-yard completion. Coale said. "I just kept running as fast as I could and I looked up and saw the ball heading right into my hands." This completion in the fourth quarter gave the Hokies great field position. Three plays later Tyrod Taylor found another receiver, Dyrell Roberts, in the endzone to result in a touchdown which rescued the Hokies for the win Saturday. The Cornhuskers fell to 1-21 in the last 22 games against teams in the top twenty in the nation. Virginia Tech continued its string of 32 non conference home game wins.
This was a great win for the Virginia Tech Hokies who had struggled all day against the Nebraska defense. Virginia Tech was down by five points to Nebraska. An offense that had mustered only two first downs and 55 yards in the second half was stuck on its own 12-yard line. There appeared to be little shot of victory. "Once I saw that he was open, I just had to let it go," said Taylor, who was hit just after he released the ball in the eighty yard completion to Danny Coale. This got the Hokies on the three yard line with about one minute left on the clock in the fourth quarter. After being sacked on the first play from the 3 three yard line for an eight yard loss and then rushed into throwing the ball away, Tyrod scrambled for what some say seemed to be an eternity before rifling the ball to Roberts on the right side of the end zone with 21 seconds left.
The Miami Hurricanes are going to be rolling into Blacksburg on the twenty-sixth as the Hokies next opponent. The Hokies are 9-17 against the Hurricanes from nineteen fifty-three to two-thousand eight. Five of the wins came at Lane Stadium, which has a tendency to do that to teams. Lane Stadium is one of the loudest in the nation. The Virginia Tech football team has enjoyed well over a decade of success, going to 16 straight bowl games. A big part of that success is the home-field advantage the Hokies enjoy at Lane Stadium/Worsham Field.

Health Care

Health care in America is starting to take a turn. Is it a turn for the good or the bad many people ask? President Obama is looking to address the issue on health care reform on the date of September 9. This is only the president’s second speech since he has been in office about the much debated issue. It seems like mister president is hiding from many of the issues he has addressed. Obama has approached many principles of what he would like in health care reform, but plans on leaving most of the details to the Congress. "The president is clearly not running away from this battle but rather confronting the challenges we have encountered these last few weeks head on," Democratic Sen. Charles Rangel of New York said in a statement Wednesday night. "He is pulling out all the stops, and this level of involvement from the president could well be a game changer. There is no better way to turn public opinion around than to have someone as popular as President Obama addressing the American people directly, without anyone interpreting (or misinterpreting ) his ideas." The debate of the upcoming issue has changed; therefore, creating an opportunity for the president to step and do something, finally! Obama has to figure out a way to come about a new vision on health care reform. "We're entering a new season," senior adviser David Axelrod said. "It's time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done." Another administration official said, “Now is the time to begin to pull together the various strands and solutions from the four bills that have been marked up and other proposals. ... Basically, all the cards are on the table." If it does not get engaged now it may turn into a catastrophe. Don’t you think the issue should have been addressed a long time before we dug ourselves into a huge hole? Obama is finally doing what he said he was going to do when he ran for president and put it off no longer. Now is a great time for the president to step in and take control. Health care is out of control and many are not able to afford their medical expenses. "Today's call was a productive one. We addressed a number of issues at hand and the next steps moving forward. Health reform is certainly a significant challenge, and each time we talk, we are reminded just how many areas of agreement exist," said Democrat Baucus from Montana. "We agree we need to take control of health care costs and make health insurance affordable for families and small businesses." Obama and Democratic leaders argue that a public option would ensure that coverage is available to all Americans while forcing private insurers to lower costs through the competition. As Republicans observe the issue they say that the democrats are misleading us into believing public option will help. The Republicans say this will just lead us into complete governmental control of health care reform just as the stimulus packages did with the bailouts of the automakers and banks. That would be the last thing that needs to happen, but where is the bill? Where are all the things Obama promised or guaranteed us during his campaign? Our government is turning into a dictatorship with the government beginning to control everything. Is this not supposed to be a free country? Obama has a lot of making up to do. Power should be in the hands of the people and it is far from it. "The health care debate is beginning to sound more and more like the politics President Obama addressed in his campaign (partisan, mean, and progress-free). It should not be that way," wrote former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-New Jersey, in an op-ed in the New York Times on Saturday. "Because I believe such a grand bipartisan compromise is still possible with health care." If the democrats decide to push the partisan bill they might have the advantage over the Republican Party even though the Republican Party is steadily rising back to the top. “Getting some Republicans to sign onto a proposal would improve Obama's chances of gaining the support of key moderate Democratic senators such as Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. All three are skeptical of a government-run public option supported by their more liberal fellow Democrats,” says CNN. Health care has become a major priority for our government to figure out. As the next couple of months, weeks go by we are hopefully going to see some major changes. This is a serious topic being debated on and many people are out there suffering because of health care. Obama needs to step up on his little pedestal and finally take control and do something about the millions suffering from health care. Other countries have hospitals you just walk in and be treated at no cost. The government runs and pays for the hospitals. This would be a solution that I would consider in the debate and be looked at hard. But, we all know that is far from happening!