Dude

In the news:

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.

You can read the rest of this news article by clicking here.

[The second sentence in this excerpt needs rewriting. Make those elements parallel, dude: in greetings, as an exclamation, as a sign of commiseration, as a way to one-up someone, and as a way to show agreement, surprise or disgust.]