Subscribe via RSSThursday, December 10th, 2009
“Mate, that’s not a knife…THIS is a knife”. “Dude! Where’s my car??” These two quotes are synonymous in film history, but what do they actually mean by ‘Mate’ and ‘Dude’?
Well, having spent most of my life in Australis, the word ‘Mate’ is used in what could be described as a friendly gesture of “I don’t really know your name, but hey there…” It can also be referred to your friend as being your ‘Mate’ or buddy, a way Australians in general like to address each other. Its origin, like a lot of Australian language and culture, has been derived from the British, especially the sailors and convicts who were sent to OZ during the colonization. These men and women often spoke in rhyming slang and a friend would be referred to as your ‘China Plate’ or ‘Mate’.
Personally, I think we use the word ‘Mate’ all too often with most people greeting each other with ‘G’day Mate’. If you think about it, it can be quite presumptuous to say this all the time as you are suggesting that most people you meet are your friend, which isn’t always the case. It really is a cultural thing and is widely accepted and even revered as our tradition of ‘Mate-Ship’ goes way back to early war days where your ‘Mates’ had your back and would never let you down.
In fact, it was only up until the early 1970’s that women were able to go into what was called ‘The Public Bar’ in Australian Pubs, as the men congregated with their ‘Mates’ and women were relegated to the lounge area or commonly called ‘The Ladies Lounge’ and they had to be accompanied to the bar to buy a drink. These were the days of ‘The 6 o’clock Swill’ where the pubs were shut at 6pm sharp and men and their ‘Mates’ would rush from work to drink as many beers as they could before closing time. This often led to binge drinking and so eventually the closing hours were extended.
When I think of ‘Dude’ having only really heard of this being used in American film I immediately think of the surfing culture well reprsented by Sean Penn’s portrayal of ‘Spicoli’ in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ and of course ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘Dude! Where’s My Car?’.
If you’re referred to as a ‘Dude’ it usually means you are cool or…you have it together. A gesture very similar to ‘Mate’ although its origins came from the 1800’s where city dwellers vacationing on a Ranch in the west, were often called ‘Cool Dudes’ as they were fastidiously dressed. That connotation has probably morphed over the years and now especially in LA a ‘Dude’ could be anyone, however, not necessarily a friend.
So “Mate that’s not a knife…but…Dude! Where’s my car??’.
