My most irritating word is “dude”. I was talking to a couple of teens when one slipped and addressed me as “dude”. I gave him a look to make his blood run cold and said: “You can call me ‘Robert’ or ‘Bob’ or ‘Mr. Smith’ or ‘Sir’ or even ‘Hey, you’, but don’t you ever call me ‘dude’. Do you understand me? Nod your head and say ‘Yes, sir’.”
Yeah, whatever, dude. ;)
Dude is a generational marker. It’s one of those words used by the post-Boomer generation. When I get on sports forums, it is ubiquitous along with other younger generation words and phrases. When I read the words dude as in describing another male, I know the writer is probably under 30 or 40. I take particular pains to avoid using those words and phrases.