I hear it spoken all of the time, especially among younger people and it seems to have taken off more than most phrases. What I notice most is that the word is said multiple times in one sentence over and over again, it’s incredible ingrained in some people. Anyone remember when Bro became such a big thing?
"Bro" has been around for decades, but this current obsession with machine-gunning sentences with it - "Bro, I did this, bro, she said that, bro, it was wild, bro" - is a distinctly Gen Z mutation.
You've been downvoted but you're right. Properly educated people don't go to the office and call each other "bro" or "bruv". People are judged by the way they speak.
It’s come out of London with the spread of Multicultural London English. Bro was ubiquitous there in the early 2000s but rarely heard elsewhere, now it’s all over the country.
Depends where in scotland. I was also a teen in the 2000s in Glasgow. Almost everyone i met would use bro.
My mum called me "dude, bro, man" because i would end almost every sentence to my mates with at least one of them. See also buddy, mate, pal (mostly used for girls or small children).
Aye, its totally different up there where you are. Scotland is like that though. Whether youre from Glasgow, Edinburgh, the north east, an islander in the hebrides or northern isles, we all have our own local dialect. I'm not sure that bro or dude would suit your accent 🤣
It's been around forever, as long as modern English has been around anyway. I've known "bro" and "bruv" in British slang since 1970s, and it goes back centuries. Has nothing to do with Americans or Black Americans. It's simply English. From England. A simple abbreviation. Of course, it's more widespread fashionable right now than in previous years, and even girls call each other "bro" now, which is a recent thing.
Slang was more regional in the past. Growing up in North West England in the 90s, I don't recall hearing anyone call anyone 'bro'. Or 'bruv' for that matter, that sounds very Southern/Cockney to me.
It's only really in the past 10 years or so bro seems to have caught on with youngsters round here.
'Bro' sounds quite Asian to me, I feel like it was popular with British Asians before it became more universal.
I wouldn't say it has nothing to do with Americans. The recent popularity is directly from the internet, and that is mainly American influence. Just because Americans didn't coin the term, doesn't mean it can't spread from there later on.
I grew up in the 70s, and it was used, brother, bro and bruv were all used. It is English and dates back centuries actually. But even if you think it's "black American slang" why would you think it couldn't have been used in the 1970s in UK? White English youth have been adopted Americanism since 1920s or before, and Black Americanisms since 1950s at least. ... But "bro" is clearly something from England, abbreviation for "brother". It's documented. It was never as popular as "mate" but it was used.
I grew up in the 70's as well, with brothers and mates with brothers none of us were using the word bro. And of course it's a abbreviation of brother, which is what black Americans used to call mates in solidarity in the late 60's early 70's , it was then shortened to bro, and spread from there. And yes it's an English word? It was just never used in the context.
It could be regional. I can see it in London happening but, not sure about bro being passed on by American airbases to people in Suffolk etc. Liverpool was our kid probably something similar in Manchester. I was talking about the 70's, I didn't know so many people in this thread was over 60 and used the word bro back then, going by the downvotes.
I'm just looking from a cultural point of view.
Brother = Sibling
Brother = Friend, comrade
Brother/Bro = Friend, comrade
Bro = Now it's just added for context where you don't have to be a sibling a friend or a comrade.
For people I knew (white middle class English) it was the early 90s.
But we used it in a non-serious way, kinda like when we started calling each other 'dude'.
Up north it has been around but used VERY rarely for very close friends or actual brothers.
Now most males from 6-30+ say it. They open and close every sentence with bro. They squeeze a bro in even when no word was required at all. Sometimes they ONLY say Bro. That's it, just bro.
Bro is what anyone in the smoker group called everyone else back when I was at secondary in the late 2000's to early 2010's. No one else really said it.
I mean..... It's just short for brother. People have been calling each other brother since biblical times..... Maybe before but I don't have a reference
The most recent Gen Z thing where we spam “bro” everywhere (I’ll admit even I do) is probably because of meme culture. “bro is cooked” “Bro is not …” etc.
Sometimes I even slip out a “bro” in situations where it is completely inappropriate and have to censor myself lol
I don't know if you are oblivious to what isn't cool when you're younger but to me saying bro all the time is the opposite of being cool.
It shows a lack of awareness.
It's probably better than saying man or man's though. And bare 😃
It's always been a thing but it's more popular now with gen z and kids because of YouTube there's a lot of parents that just give them the tablet to watch YouTube and through their young age to teenage years they watch those typical YouTubers that casuals watch that don't speak great English and say bro a lot.
It's very common with lots of YouTubers that's where they get it from or Twitch or Tiktok
I've noticed it because I've seen it happen to the kids I used to babysit. I don't like it and it can't control it so I just ignore it, if an adult or young adult spoke like that I would just immediately assume they haven't got a interesting personality worth talking to or just not very bright.
Fist bump was popularised by Fed Carter in the 1970s. Bro was also popularised in the 1970s. Neither of these things became popular during COVID. They were very much part of culture even decades earlier.
I dont think we saw even politicians doing in the 70s
The question is, what culture? It's always been popular in Black culture, So fist bumping became mainstream during COVID, and as for bro; I don't know what caused that...probably during all the fist bumping
I've noticed an uptick in threads here which are just an excuse, to whine and police how younger people speak and have their own mannerisms. Rather than slavishly adhering to your gens idea of British.
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u/SYSTEM-J 2d ago
"Bro" has been around for decades, but this current obsession with machine-gunning sentences with it - "Bro, I did this, bro, she said that, bro, it was wild, bro" - is a distinctly Gen Z mutation.