bro n.1
1. (orig. US black, also bro-bro, bronem) a brother, whether lit. or fig. (cf. bra n.).
Homer Travestie (1764) I 202: My dearest bro. for this did I / Desire a truce, zounds! I could cry. | ||
Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 473: His bro. was pretty near. | ||
Burlesque Homer (4th edn) II 313: [as cit. 1772]. | ||
Adventures of a Boomer Op. 93: He’d never say ‘No’ to a wandering Bro’ / Who asked him for a meal. | ||
Pal Joey 30: Betty said her bro.-in-law never went to night clubs. | ||
Public School Slang 133: The young ’un was once the correct designation for a young brother, but the modern equivalent is possibly my bro. | ||
Augie March (1996) 81: This kid is a buddy of mine and he works for my bro. | ||
Concrete Kimono 169: I say, are you going to marry my bro’? | ||
Current Sl. V:2. | ||
Call Me Not A Man 66: Bro Zakes raised his eyebrows dumbfoundedly. | ‘Son of the First Generation’||
Under Cover 201: That’s my bro, baby. Serious guy. | ||
Secret World of the Irish Male (1995) 591: ‘No,’ says the bro. | ||
Hell on Hoe Street 208: And what about me and my bro here. | ||
Times Mag. 30 Apr. 14/3: Bros before hos. | ||
Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Bro - friend, associate, may also be used for a biological sibling. | (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at||
Cherry 150: Several bros would ride in the Fuck Van and they’d be on the lookout. Then one bro would go ‘look’ and he’d point out a young woman. | ||
Young Team 10: [M]a big bro’s been roon the block a few times. | ||
🎵 Told bro-bro that you gotta' take it slow / But he knows crime pays, so he won't go lidge’. | ‘6 for 6’
2. as a term, of address, esp. between blacks.
🎵 You gonna put it in my stocking, the money, bro? | ‘Hannah Fell in Love with my Piano’||
Corner Boy 132: ‘Keep the change.’ [...] ‘Thanks, bro.’. | ||
Down These Mean Streets (1970) 104: We waited some more and a colored cat came down. ‘Hey, bruh,’ I called. | ||
Howard Street 77: What you been doin’ for yourself, little bro? | ||
Inner City Hoodlum 109: I dig where you’re comin’ from, bro. | ||
Drylongso 284: But, Bruh’ John, it is an advanced age for a person with sickle-cell anemia. | ||
Day of the Dog 63: No worries, broh. | ||
Central Sl. 12: brough [...] ‘Say, brough, wha’s uh’. | ||
Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 44: Where’s da money, bro? | ||
Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Bro. A form of address denoting friendship or affection. Contraction of brother. More frequently used by aboriginal prisoners. | ||
8 Ball Chicks (1998) 197: [to a woman] You scared the shit out of me, bro. | ||
Observer Rev. 20 June 16: The sight of more public schoolboys addressing each other as ‘bro’ might just make you want to smash their heads in. | ||
Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 34: bro Greeting, particularly popular among Maori, short for ‘brother’, imported from the Black Brothers in America. Maori gangs are identified generally as The Bros and hospitals in some areas are known as Bro-repairs, a play on the Beaurepaires tyre retailing chain. | ||
Be My Enemy 98: How’s it going, bro? | ||
Running the Books 6: Inmates exchange intrixcate handshakes and formal titles: OG, young G, boo, bro, baby boy, brutha, dude, cuz, dawg, P, G, daddy, pimpin’, nigga, man, thug thizzle, my boy, my man, homie. | ||
This Is How You Lose Her 97: Bro, you’re working at the Yarn Barn! | ||
Crongton Knights 6: ‘Calm down, bro’. | ||
Straight Dope [ebook] Hey bro, let me get a word with you. |
3. (also bronem, bru) a black male, abbr. brother n. (2)
‘Sl. of Watts’ in Current Sl. III:2 11: Bro, n. Short for brother, fellow Negro. | ||
(con. 1970) 13th Valley (1983) 33: Gradually he went from being valled L-T B to L-T Bro. | ||
What’s The Good Word? 84: A box being one of those big portable radio/cassette players the bros carry around. | ||
Rivethead (1992) 53: You just didn’t find too many bro’s hangin’ around the communion rail. | ||
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 8 Jan. 🌐 Totsiens, bru. | ||
🎵 My lil’ bronem see me with P, on G and now they wan’ trap like me. | ‘Xmas Eve’
4. (N.Z. prison) pl., constr. with the anyone dark-skinned, usu. M?oris or Pacific islanders.
NZEJ 13 36: the bros n. Dark-skinned people, (esp. Maoris). | ‘Boob Jargon’ in||
Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 31/1: bros, the n. pI. 1 dark-skinned people, esp. Maori or Pacific Islanders. |
5. (N.Z. prison) pl., constr. with the one’s inmate peer group.
Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 31/1: bros, the n. pI 2 one's fellow prison inmates. |
6. (US campus) orig. a member of a fraternity; also used as adj. meaning athletic, sporty; by 1970s the use developed to mean a male friend and the hedonistic lifestyle pursued (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bro_culture); thus v. bro to act in a manner typical of such individuals.
UNC-CH Campus Sl. 2011 2: BRO [...] Member of a social fraternity: ‘Those bros took up a whole row at the football game.’ Athlete, athletic: ‘That guy is pretty bro.’. | (ed.)||
On the Bro’d 44: Derek is getting all pussywhipped by these chicks and can’t bro it as hard as we want. |
In compounds
(US campus) a highly trustworthy friend.
UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2014 Fall 1: BORN-BRO — true and loyal companion: ‘I owe Blake big time for helping me out this weekend. The man’s a born-bro’. | (ed.)
assumed and unwritten rules governing the behaviour of men towards one another, esp. in regard to relations with women.
Appel 158: He even gave me the number of his friend, well, ex-girlfriend [...] I was confused about what bro code meant in such a scenario. |
In phrases
(US) to befriend.
On the Bro’d 19: I bro’d up with another hitchiker. |