Why is that particularly important? I think dude can be used generally.. or at least I've heard bro and similar words used in a general fashion before.
Zeal from defenders, I see. Don't worry, I, of all people, understand how language changes. If we didn't, we'd all say "Verily."
Ah, hehe interesting example. I have a friend who hates that words that mean "truthfully" such as very, really, or even literally to an extent at this point.. always turn into words simply used to strengthen a statement. We have tons of words now for the purpose of exadurating statements.. but can't seems to hold onto ones that directly means something like "I'm not exaggerating" or "this is indeed factual".
Before I comment further, that reminded me of a time that the word "very" was considered lazy language. And that was said by Robin Williams.
Cool! That is interesting and reminds me of another fact I've heard. I looked it up again so I can find details for sure. "Originally, thou was simply the singular counterpart to the plural pronoun ye, derived from an ancient Indo-European root. Following a process found in other Indo-European languages, thou was later used to express intimacy, familiarity or even disrespect, while another pronoun, you, the oblique/objective form of ye, was used for formal circumstances"
