Pretty dark dudes?

[Torsten]

Hi,

This morning an employee of a German department store asked me what 'dark dudes' means. (I later found out that the stores sells dark dudes.)

I have an idea of what a 'dude' is and I can also imagine what 'dark dudes' might be about. Since I hadn't the expression before I googled it and learned that 'dark dudes' is the name of a product line by Quiza, the company that sells the Diddl and Nici brands. The Dark Dude gang consists of these intimidating characters: Mad Bunny, Bad Bunny, Devil Dude, Teddy Dude, Doggy Dude and Street Dude.

My question is, would you use the expression 'dark dudes' to talk about shady types or criminals?

Many thanks,
Torsten
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[Alan]

Hi Torsten,

I wouldn't necessarily use the expression 'dark dudes' but if I saw it, I would assume it referred to 'blokes' as we would say here, who were of a suspicious demeanour. I am more familiar with 'cool dude(s)'. But I have to admit I'm not an inhabitant of 'dudeland' but more of 'blokeland'. No doubt our American contributors will put you and me straight on the topic.

Alan
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[Jamie (K)]

I also wouldn't use the expression, but if I heard it I would understand it as meaning shady characters, probably criminals.

[Molly]

[Haihao]

I guess the questioner did it outside the store where he/she works, say, in a classroom where Torsten teaches English. Just my poor imagination. Anyway, what he/she asked was an English question.

[Torsten]

The employee came across the term when she was browsing through a department she doesn't work at. She said she had looked up the word 'dude' in her old dictionary and couldn't find it. Then she looked it up and a newer one and found the entry but she couldn't find the combination 'dark dudes' so she asked me what it might mean. I think it's good when department store staff want to get background information on the names of items they sell.

I don't know what to make of the fact that the British company Quiza created a brand name using an American slang word. Maybe they thought that there are more 'dark dudes' out there than there are 'dark blokes'. Or maybe they wanted the name to rhyme with 'dark suits' -- 'dark dudes in dark suits'.

Any thoughts?

Update: It turns out that the Dark Dudes label was created by a Daniel F. Ramershoven, a German company. There is another German company called "Depesche" which seems to be promoting the brand "Depesche Dark Dudes" and Quiza apparently has a deal with them.
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary