Weird News

Richard K Niner · Postby **Richard K Niner** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:35 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Linguist Deciphers Uses of Word 'Dude' By MIKE CRISSEY Associated Press Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Dude, you've got to read this. A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word "dude," contending it is much more than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters, slackers and teenagers. An admitted dude-user during his college years, Scott Kiesling said the four-letter word has many uses: in greetings ("What's up, dude?"); as an exclamation ("Whoa, Dude!"); commiseration ("Dude, I'm so sorry."); to one-up someone ("That's so lame, dude."); as well as agreement, surprise and disgust ("Dude."). Kiesling says in the fall edition of American Speech that the word derives its power from something he calls cool solidarity - an effortless kinship that's not too intimate. Cool solidarity is especially important to young men who are under social pressure to be close with other young men, but not enough to be suspected as gay. In other words: Close, dude, but not that close. "It's like man or buddy, there is often this male-male addressed term that says, 'I'm your friend but not much more than your friend,'" said Kiesling, whose research focuses on language and masculinity. To decode the word's meaning, Kiesling listened to conversations with fraternity members he taped in 1993. He also had undergraduate students in sociolinguistics classes in 2001 and 2002 write down the first 20 times they heard "dude" and who said it during a three-day period. He found the word taps into nonconformity and a new American image of leisurely success. Anecdotally, men were the predominant users of the word, but women sometimes call each other dudes. Less frequently, men will call women dudes and vice versa. But that comes with some rules, according to self-reporting from students in a 2002 language and gender class included in the paper. "Men report that they use dude with women with whom they are close friends, but not with women with whom they are intimate," according to the study. His students also reported that they were least likely to use the word with parents, bosses and professors. Historically, dude originally meant "old rags" - a "dudesman" was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a "dude" was akin to a "dandy," a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. It became "cool" in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Kiesling. Dude began its rise in the teenage lexicon with the 1981 movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." "Dude" also shows no signs of disappearing as more and more of our culture becomes youth-centered, said Mary Bucholtz, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "I have seen middle-aged men using 'dude' with each other," she said.</td></tr></table>  <a href='http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/ ... TE=DEFAULT' target='_blank'><img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... s/cool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cool.gif' /></a> Dude! <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... /laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />

Henohenomoheji · Postby **Henohenomoheji** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:51 pm

...So basically, it's like the word "Arrr"?

erikbarrett · Postby **erikbarrett** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 3:06 am

Arrr, dude!

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:19 pm

Dude, this is nothing new. In a kinda old (probably made about 5 years ago) teen sitcom that, for some reason, I used to watch, there was a character in it who was fluent in 'dude', able to say it in 37 ways with 37 meanings. And of course, there's the scene in baseball <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

VisibilityMissing · Postby **VisibilityMissing** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:30 am

Honey, where's Paco?  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Dec 14, 6:47 PM EST Python Is Accidentally Shipped to N.J. CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) -- The story of Paco the Python is a serpentine tale of a pet snake accidentally shipped from Missouri to New Jersey in a box with a DVD player being sent for repairs. Paco is currently basking in an 85-degree cage at an NJ Pets store in Clifton; he'll be shipped back home to Missouri in temperature-controlled comfort. Sheila Himmerick, who had bought Paco as a gift for her teenage son, Rusty, was thrilled to find out he was alive. She said pythons don't like the cold. Himmerick and 17-year-old son were at home in Jefferson City, Missouri, and couldn't get their get their new DVD player to work. They called the maker, Samsung, and shipped the player to the company's return center in Secaucus, New Jersey late last month. Paco, a three-foot, four-pound ball python with brown and yellow markings, apparently slithered into the box, and hid beneath the foam peanuts the DVD player was packed in. Himmerick got a call from Samsung's New Jersey repair shop, CVE Incorporated. She said someone there asked whether that was her snake in the DVD box, and was that her way of expressing her customer dissatisfaction. A woman who answered the phone at CVE said the company had no comment on the incident. Secaucus Town Animal Warden Kevin Kessler, who was called to handle the python, said Paco was a bit listless but unharmed, and that no charges were filed. Kessler said "things like this do happen." 2004 The Associated Press.</td></tr></table>

The_Sparrow_ · Postby **The_Sparrow_** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 8:28 am

Why didn't they ship it to me, I'd love to have a pet snake.

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:06 pm

Ahh, the life of a well-travelled python. Can you imagine the conversation, when they called to find out what the snake in the box was all about, though? And yeah, snakes are cute and make great pets, I hear for the latter part of that statement.

Steve the Pocket · Postby **Steve the Pocket** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:25 pm

I don't know if this was already mentioned somewhere, but this is cool. <a href='http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65392,00.html' target='_blank'>Turn it off! Turn it off!!!</a>

Richard K Niner · Postby **Richard K Niner** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:43 pm

And to think, the last time I sat down in front of the tube was weeks ago.

dragonranpu · Postby **dragonranpu** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:22 pm

That is so cool. I must say that would be so much fun. <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... /ph34r.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ph34r.gif' />

Holyman83 · Postby **Holyman83** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:00 pm

I haven't watch TV since I was last at home. about 3 weeks ago now.

Burning Sheep Productions · Postby **Burning Sheep Productions** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:48 am

Hrmm... I watched TV this morning, and last night, and four weeks before that...

VisibilityMissing · Postby **VisibilityMissing** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:14 pm

There might be a reason some stores have asked the Bell Ringers to go away. Nah . . . couldn't be.  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Dec 18, 5:48 PM EST Drunk Salvation Army Bell Ringer Arrested DENVER (AP) -- An intoxicated Salvation Army bell ringer with a history of public drinking was arrested after getting into a fight with an employee at a grocery store where he was collecting donations. David Duncan, 46, was arrested Thursday on 11 outstanding warrants after he got into a fight with the Safeway worker, police detective Teresa Garcia said. Nine of the 11 warrants were for public consumption of alcohol, Garcia said. Two were for trespass. Duncan was a temporary Salvation Army employee and had undergone an interview but not a background check, Salvation Army spokeswoman Becky O'Guin said. The group hires about 1,000 bell ringers in the Denver area each Christmas season and doesn't have the time or money for background checks, she said. O'Guin said Duncan was in his second season working as a bell ringer and had no history of violent incidents. He was fired after his arrest, she said. "Had we known about these outstanding warrants, we would never have hired him," O'Guin said. 2004 The Associated Press.</td></tr></table>

VisibilityMissing · Postby **VisibilityMissing** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:37 pm

More "national security issues" at Los Alamos. Aren't you glad to know they've got rats where the nukes are stored?  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Dec 17, 6:21 PM EST Tip: Check for Rats Before Starting Engine LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) -- OK, new safety tip: Don't start the engine without checking under the hood first for rats. Los Alamos National Laboratory, in this week's online Daily NewsBulletin, instructed workers to open the hoods of their cars and inspect the engine compartment for rodent nests before turning the key. The advice comes after flames broke out in two pack rat nest-infested lab vehicles earlier this month. A pack rat can crawl through a hole in a car engine or glove box and build a nest in a single night. During a recent cold spell, a rat used the engine of a new U.S. government truck at the lab to get out of the weather. To the driver's surprise, starting the engine ignited a nest of leaves, twigs and grass, said Kathy DeLucas, a lab spokeswoman. The employee quickly doused it with a fire extinguisher. After a fire broke out in another rat-infested lab vehicle this month, lab emergency managers decided to warn employees. "Usually, it's not really a fire but a bad smell like something died," said Sammy Ortega of KSL Services, a local pest control company. "The urine and the droppings put together don't smell too good." Pest control workers get 30 to 50 calls a year about rats and mice in vehicles, he said. "They like to chew on the wiring," Ortega said. "They make messes." The lab advised workers who find a nest in their engine to call pest control. Oh, yeah, and learn how to use a fire extinguisher. 2004 The Associated Press</td></tr></table>

Ruedii-X · Postby **Ruedii-X** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 1:23 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (Richard K Niner @ Dec 15 2004, 09:43 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> And to think, the last time I sat down in front of the tube was weeks ago.  </td></tr></table>  I generally only watch a few shows, other than news, which I sometimes leave on while doing other stuff in case something interesting pops on it. Most of the shows I watch are on weekends, so I should be leaving soon to watch them. I usually wait until 10:00 so that a good hour of programming has cached up on the DVR.

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