When I was taking sociolinguistics, I came across the research of this dude, Scott Kiesling, who studied the word "dude" by apparently sending out some surveys and spending a little time in frat basements: [www.pitt.edu]
My conclusion is that "fuck" is far, far more versatile.
I am going to agree that this is an incredibly versatile term because, this past weekend, I realize that my best friend and his new boyfriend (both kinda closet cases) use "dude" as a term of endearment because they're not quite ready to say something more traditionally considered a pet name out loud yet. It's absolutely adorable. Dude is now one of my favorite words.
I am glad that no one keeps tabs on my comments, because more often than not they lead off with "Dude." I have NO idea where it came from - it's just always there... and it's depressing. I much prefer "fuck."
My high school history teacher told us that you could use fuck (he said "the f word") as every party of speech. I still assert it cannot be a preposition.
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My conclusion is that "fuck" is far, far more versatile.
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Yes, I was a high school English teacher. ;-)
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