# What is a Dud? As in: "Strip off them Duds..."

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 12, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137 "2007-11-12T15:51:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/1 "2007-11-12T15:51:58Z")

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I was watching Lonesome Dove this weekend [love that movie] and one of the charactor’s was talking to someone about taking off their clothes, but instead of saying “_take off your clothes…_” he said, “_Strip off them Duds…_” My question is easy…what are Duds and where did the word come from?

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/2 "2007-11-12T16:04:09Z")

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Duds are clothes. The word comes from Middle English “dudde” which seems to mean a cloak.

> **[Duds Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/duds)**
>
> Duds definition, clothes, especially a suit of clothes. See more.

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/3 "2007-11-12T16:06:00Z")

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Duds are, as you’ve guessed, clothes. From Etymology Online:

> [@](#):
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> dud-1307, dudde “cloak, mantle,” later duds “ragged clothing” (1508), of uncertain origin. Extended c.1825 to “person in ragged clothing,” in 1897 to “counterfeit thing,” and 1908 to “useless, inefficient person or thing.” This led naturally in WWI to “shell which fails to explode,” and thence to “expensive failure.”

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**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/4 "2007-11-12T16:13:32Z")

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Cool, glad the westerners of old were holding onto some old world traditonal phrases. 🙂

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**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/5 "2007-11-12T16:31:52Z")

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[QUOTE=Phlosphr]  
Cool, glad the westerners of old were holding onto some old world traditonal phrases. 🙂  
[/QUOTE]

A lot of regional dialects in America were remnants / descendants of old world regional speech. I had a teacher once who had done extensive reasearch into the legacy of the Southern dialect, a lot of Scottish influence if I remember correctly.

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**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/6 "2007-11-12T17:33:24Z")

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“Duds” is slang for underpants in the area surrounding Wigan (probably elsewhere, too).

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-dud-as-in-strip-off-them-duds/426137/7 "2007-11-12T18:19:22Z")

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I used to live across the street from a laundromat named **Suds Yer Duds**. In American, “Duds” mean any kind of clothes.