When I was young back in the Jurassic Era, my peers (mainly guys) would address each other as “Man.”
“Hey Man — What’s happening?” “Man, that was cool!” “Don’t Bogart that joint, Man.”
Like that.
I’m talking about the “Hippie Era,” which was basically from around 1965 to maybe 1975, coinciding somewhat with the end of the Vietnam War.
Oh, younger people still used the term “Man” for several more years beyond 1975 (heck, I STILL use it in the 2020s and prefer it to other sobriquets).
But the hip-set was using “Man” long before I did. Before the Hippie Era there was the “Beatnik Era.” Remember The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis back in the early 1960s? “Man’ was a favorite refrain of Dobie’’s beatnik friend, Maynard G. Krebs — who later became Gilligan.
But you probably knew that -- and I digress…
“Man” eventually gave way to “Dude,” most famously used in The Big Lebowski (the Dude abides...)
I think Dude became the preferred term used in the 1990s and the early 2000s. But in the beginning, it overlapped with “Man.” Remember the 1973 “All the Young Dudes” song by the English band Mott the Hoople (whatever that is — must be British…).
Dude is still used by young people today, and some ascribe the term “Dudette” to girls. But I’ve heard young females call each other “Dude,” so it’s apparently a pretty non-gender-specific term.
But then came “Bro,” short, of course, for Brother, and almost exclusively used by young men — usually macho-dripping, sports-loving types. I haven’t heard any girls use the term to describe each other and don’t really expect to.
It’s obviously pretty gender-specific…
I would suggest that all three terms — Man, Dude and Bro — are still used fairly interchangeably. But I believe “Bro” is now in ascendancy with the ultra-cool-male set.
My research tells me that all three terms likely got their start in Black Culture, which Non-Black Cultures often appropriate because black folks are generally cooler and more in touch with the latest street slang.
So what’s the next culturally popular greeting to replace “Bro”?
Couldn’t tell ya, Bub…
I have read that some of this started in black culture because (rightfully so) black men were tired of being condescendingly called "son" by white men so they started addressing each other as Man, etc as a more validating greeting. I don't remember where I first saw this, however. But it makes sense.