Google is not a very reliable tool, by itself, for any kind of serious research, unless of course if you are in that particularly privileged position of having leisure time. Having said that, I was trying to look up some kind of discussion online regarding how the usage of the term “dude” crosses over gender lines in different social spaces - specifically, I have heard women call each other “dude” before, but I wonder what women call each other when men aren’t around? Most of the conversations I’ve found so far are (of course) male-centered, e.g. “is it okay for me to call a chick ‘dude’?”, etc. so, if you are a woman and you are reading this, do you all call each other something informal that is akin to or parallel in usage to “dude” but in fact different? As a postscript, let me suggest the filter of “besides ‘girfriend’”, which seems to have been indelibly co-opted by gay men. Thanks for participating!
