Why Do People Say Bro/Bruh?

Vocabulary / By

History Of Bro/Bruh

People used to say bro and bruh as a shorthand term of “brother”.  This term is usually used to signify some sort of friendship between one person and another, although sometimes it can be condescending.  This saying also stems from “bro culture”, which is a subculture of mostly males who party with each other.

Evolution Of Bro/Bruh

Nowadays there exists a lot of different reasons why people say bro, such as semi-threateningly to sound assertive in a quirky way to their peers, such as: “Seriously bro, I mean it!”.  Other ways it can be applied can include relating to one another in a casual way: “Bro, it is cold out here.”  Whatever the application, it is considered a very casual way to relate to someone.

What first started as a term usually only used to refer to young, rich, white men who party all the time eventually evolved into (generally) being a way to connect with your friends and acquaintances in a way that signifies friendship.  Bro-bro is thought to signify an extra special reverence for a friend, holding them in the highest regards.

Bro/Bruh As A Negative Reference

It should be noted that some consider the term “bruh” to be much more negative than bro.  “Bruh” could sometimes indicate an underlying sarcasm, disdain or disappointment with someone’s ignorant statement.  In cases such as these, “bruh” is used as an indicator to the other person, “you should know that already/you should have done that already”, etc.

Who Uses The Terms Bro/Bruh?

The terms “bro” and “bruh” are both typically used by younger generations as slang.  Some people consider “bruh” to be African American vernacular. This is because in African American culture, it is normal to refer to friends, acquaintances and sometimes even strangers as siblings to help relate to one another.

Although in the past the term “bro” was usually restricted to just males who consider each other blood brothers or are from a fraternity, the slang was easily able to expand and spread itself into other subcultures such as females who party, are stoners, or just are more casual.  Most commonly, this term is used between good friends.

Usage Of Bro/Bruh

Some more examples of using the terms bro and bruh include:  “Bruh!  What’s up?” after greeting someone, “Bro, what’s your address?” while excitedly engaging with a friend, “Seriously, bro?  You need to calm down”  while engaging in a semi-volatile situation with a friend, acquaintance, or even sometimes a stranger.

Recap

Bro/Bruh can be used to refer to someone in a variety of ways and can be used in different settings. It first started as a shorthand for brother but evolved into slang used by party-going predominantly white males.  Some say these terms were used by African Americans first.  Eventually, these terms were adopted by females and other subcultures and have since been widely accepted in the English language.

 

 

Conor
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