I said I like awesome? I thought that was American.
You're right: I apologize for the oversight.
I do occassionally use dude/dudette online. More jokingly than seriously. I don't like to use many American words cos they just make no sense to me (jack? wtf), even heck...that's just silly.
I'm with you on "dude": I have never in my life used it as a term of address in actual speech, but here I use it frequently. I agree with you that "heck" is utterly lame, but I can't remember the last time I heard it used by anyone under the age of about 70.
About "jack," I take it that you mean the verb, in the phrase "to jack off" (or, in the more abbreviated idiom that has caught on lately, "to jack it"). Well, it seems to me to make about as much sense as "to wank." There is also the noun, used in the phrase "to know jack," or, more explicitly, "to know jack shit," as in "I don't know jack (shit) about computers."
ones i do like...
mate - a friend.
"Mate" is charming when it is used in a genuinely friendly way, though it can also be used in an aggressive way, just as expressions like "pal" and "buddy" can be used Stateside. For some reason the word seems to be much favored by Australians. One of my favorite bits in the kiddie movie
Finding Nemo was the flock of Australian sea birds that unceasingly cry, "Mate? Mate?" But let's not forget the New England lobster that tells of how it was "wicked daahk."