American slang

[belly_ttt]

I've heard the word Doc many times on TV, but when I looked up in Dictionary they told me that Doc is " A physician, dentist, or veterinarian.". However, I think Doc is something like Dude. So what is your take?

[tedtmc]

doc - doctor

[skidoo]

doc can also mean "document".

[David L.]

You need to understand the origin of a famous saying in Western culture, that of, 'What's up, Doc?'
This was the line made famous by Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character.

The cartoon creator explained how the line became established in the numerous cartoon confrontations between Bugs Bunny and the hapless hunter Elmer Fudd:

"We decided he [Bugs] was going to be a smart-aleck rabbit, but casual about it. When he and Elmer first met, the audience expected the rabbit to scream, or anything but make a casual remark; so when Bugs Bunny just stands there chewing on his carrot and asks nonchalantly, "What's up Doc?", it took the audience by complete surprise. Here's a guy pointing a gun in his face! It got such a laugh that we said, 'Boy, we'll do that every chance we get.'"

The line has outlived Bugs Bunny and is now commonly used worldwide as a jokey alternative to the straightforward query 'what's up?', i.e. 'what's going on?'.

So, yes, I guess now when we use it in ordinary conversation, it is equivalent to 'dude', or 'man'.

You could very easily just say, "What's up man?" or "What's up dude?"; but by using the original "What's up Doc?", you are being very casual and easy going, more as if just saying," Hi, how's it going?"
Understand that "What's up man" could...could be misinterpreted by some in certain situations as a confrontation, like asking, "Hey, what are you doing? What's your problem man?"

[belly_ttt]

So the Doc has nothing to do with doctor or the kinds of it. But why didn't the rabbit say anything that makes sense instead of Doc?

[Raymott]

So the Doc has nothing to do with doctor or the kinds of it. But why didn't the rabbit say anything that makes sense instead of Doc?

Nice question!
It would suggest to me that "Doc" was in the vernacular before Bugs Bunny used it.
<Cop out - not an American>