The most popular word with America’s youth: dude! It can form a whole language in itself, depending on intonation: Dude. Dude? Dude! Dude. Duuude…
So what is the origin of this most versatile word? Nobody seems to know! The etymologies in all the dictionaries you’ll ever see tell you “origin unknown.” Even the great Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology gives up and admits failure. I checked the magisterial Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. They said that dude became a popular slang word in New York at the beginning of 1883, but the “origin is not recorded.” And then . . . right in their very first cite, there it was, staring you in the face!
This sentence was published in the Graphic, March 31, 1883:
Looks to me like dude is just a clipped form of “subdued.” The context of the rest of the 1883 quote makes that clear. A dude is one who goes in for good taste, not flashy style. The meaning of “subdued” fits in. Clipping is one of the major ways of forming slang words in American English. I bet you this is where the word came from.
Remember, you read it here first!