Hi all,
Thought this might be of some random or trivia (but not trivial) interest:
In a linguistics project a colleague of mine found that (according to Seth
Lerer) Twain was the first author to use the word "dude."  It seems Twain
used it pejoratively in Connecticut Yankee to refer to knights as "iron
dudes"-- as in knights "duded up" in iron.

(I don't know much more, but the source in Project Muse: "Hello, Dude:
Philology, Performance, and Technology in Connecticut Yankee" by Seth Lerer)

Best,
Matt Klauza

Matthew D. Klauza
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama