When did teenagers begin saying 'bro' every other word?
Posted by Technical_Ear_4339@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 207 comments
I spent the 2010s and 2020s not doing much in society, so I suppose changes have passed me by. Over the last few years; however; upon branching out to cafes, gyms, and public places in general; I noticed that a lot of male teenagers speak to each other with an amazing amount of 'bro's inserted into their sentences. I overheard a couple's young adult son chatting with his mate in a cafe, and it is not an exaggeration to say that his speech was like this:
"Yeah, bro, I mean you have to do it, bro, you know what I mean, bro?"
"Yeah, bro, definitely".
"Aw bro! I forgot to ask, bro, did you buy that car in the end, bro?"
"Yeah, bro!"
"Nice one, bro!"
"Cheers, bro!"
I know that previous generations have all had words which they inserted into their speech, but I cannot recall it ever being in such an unconsciously repetitive way. It's curious. When did this begin? What influenced it?
atzucac_fill@reddit
Bleedin yanks
tannercolin@reddit
Aussies and kiwis have been both bro and mate for a long time
st1ckygusset@reddit
Eshay ba
Brave_Assumption6@reddit
It's not just yanks it pretty much grew globally from people of various backgrounds though the web.
Hour_Mousse7914@reddit
Duno dude
abyssal-isopod86@reddit
It's so cringe.
I've also seen kids and teens starting their sentences by saying "Chat" like streamers do to acknowledge a message, so these kids seem to think that's just how you're actually supposed to talk š¤¦
robcollier@reddit
Chat is the new collective noun
abyssal-isopod86@reddit
I mean they use it when speaking to one of their parents and such.
ratbum@reddit
Shortly after they stopped saying dude in the same way
Dimac99@reddit
I'm still saying dude to everyone and I'm a middle aged woman!
Brave_Assumption6@reddit
I actually like bro more than dude if I had to pick
Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit
Itās an American thing thatās just caught on
Dimac99@reddit
Funnily enough, the first person I heard using it like that was a South African gamer in voice chat years and years ago and everyone else was copying him ironically. Although he pronounced it more like "broo".
opop456@reddit
Thanks to TikTok.
portablekettle@reddit
No it isn't. This was common back when I was in primary school years before the popularisation of short form content.
atsevoN@reddit
I was in primary school from 2004-2008 and nobody used bro during that time
Midnight7000@reddit
Yeah, I'm older than you. It was useful before your time.
atsevoN@reddit
But not in the way it is used now, itās completely different. We used bro as in a close friend but that was about it, not bro Iām so tired, youāre cooked bro, thatās crazy bro, based bro, bro thatās fire, etc
Midnight7000@reddit
You must be white.
Sendhimoffdiabolical@reddit
You northern by any chance?
I've had this discussion before. I grew up in the north west, nobody used bro, bruv, dude etc.. but talking to people from down south, in and around London, they said it wasn't quite as common as mate but still definitely a thing.
atsevoN@reddit
I am not no, East Midlands
themcsame@reddit
Ehhh, similar time, it was used (secondary school is probably the better metric, given we're talking teens here)
I'm just wondering if there's a bit of confusion between bro coming up, and bro being used at the end of basically every sentence, because it definetly was a thing, but it seems like from the mid/low 20's down, they've taken bro and just turned it up to 11.
atsevoN@reddit
I think youāre right it was used but not in the way it is now. For an example back then we might say āScott is my broā or something like that, meaning like close mate shortened from brother but not begin or end every sentence with bro like the kids do now lol
opop456@reddit
I'm in my late 20s and in the past 10 years or so it has been a lot more prominent with youngsters than when I was that age. TikTok is no doubt partly to blame, amongst other factors.
Proper-Scientist-153@reddit
Yeah, it's "wild".... š«¤
90210fred@reddit
Yea, but "wild" had replaced all things we think we can't say.
(I'm tired so I can't be bothered listing a bunch of things that might get me banned, depending on sub)
Bhafc1901@reddit
What, crazy?
WheresMyAbs98@reddit
Been common up north since the 90s
Lion-Resident@reddit
Isn't it the same as "mate"?
Technical_Ear_4339@reddit (OP)
It's the frequency of it, it's almost every other word at times. I have never noticed people using 'mate' in quite the same way.
wintermute023@reddit
It rather depended on area in the old days. We used to call Kent āthe mating groundā in the 90s as every second word was āmateā. For a while in Berkshire in the 2010s it seemed that ābuddyā was the thing. Now I guess itās ābroā. When I was on Aus, it was ācuntā every third word.
I prefer āmy good fellow ā, or depending on situation ā me old cockā.
matherto@reddit
Try being in a room with six chavvy scousers. 'Lad' after every three words.
The_Bravinator@reddit
I doubt they notice how often they say bro, and certainly won't remember it in 20 years. It's glaring because of the novelty. It wouldn't seem so jarring if you were part of that cohort.
SmugDruggler95@reddit
My friends used to take the piss out of me for saying mate every other word.
Which indicates that I was the weird one and it was not the norm.
CountTruffula@reddit
Oh, I thought he was a pal guy
Dark-Empath-@reddit
Bruv
Necessary_Delivery80@reddit
Makes me cringe and Iāve noticed men greet each other now with a fist bump too š¤¢
CountTruffula@reddit
I miss bruv and g
AndrewHinds67@reddit
Bruh is even more irritating. You might as well just revert to grunting
FantasticWeasel@reddit
What about the ones who pronounce it bra? Bra bra, short for brather perhaps.
funfun151@reddit
Obla di, obla da, live goes on brah.
atsevoN@reddit
Brah is more of an Aussie thing in the mid to late 2000s, popularised mainly by Zyzz (Australian bodybuilder at the time)
RugbyEdd@reddit
I guess when they ran out of mates
Dry_HighlighterNib@reddit
Some people use 'like' or 'um' in the same way
TomatoChomper7@reddit
The dumbest Americans have been saying it for a long time. I know of at least one genuine idiot in New York who has talked like that for at least 20-30 years. Itās spread to the dumbest people in British society over the last 10-15 years as well, and it seems to have become chronic over the last few years. Itās pretty handy as a moron detector. As soon as someone says ābroā in literally every sentence, sometimes 2-3 times in each, you know their IQ is well below room temperature.
Brave_Assumption6@reddit
Hey enough with the anti-Americanism. Did you know Canadians have been saying it too for as long as I remember?
TomatoChomper7@reddit
I believe it. I wouldnāt be surprised if every English-speaking country has had idiots talking like that for decades.
PKblaze@reddit
Like 4 years ago bro.
And people in the US were a few years before that.
Brave_Assumption6@reddit
+ Canada too
No-Championship5962@reddit
When Americans invaded social media
LewyH91@reddit
Streamers and memers broooooo
mypostisbad@reddit
Dunno fam
Dazpiece@reddit
I ain't your fam, bro
Visual_Egg_6091@reddit
I aināt your fam, blud
Threemonkeys123@reddit
I aināt your blud, G!
Lynex_Lineker_Smith@reddit
I aināt your G, cuzzy
IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit
Aint your cuzzy, coldy
PurpleBlock25@reddit
Innit
PotentialRatio1321@reddit
I aināt your cuzz, homeslice
Ill-Security-5344@reddit
š¤£
Leeroywildman@reddit
I blame hulk hogan.
Alarmed-Attention-77@reddit
Iām old. Everyone is still a dude to me.
No_Application_8698@reddit
My niece says it. She calls my sister (her mum) ābroā. Pisses me right off, but itās pointless to resist really.
Hopefully it will pass, no doubt to be superseded by an even more nonsensical, annoying word or phrase.
BeatsAndBeer@reddit
Eh yoo, bet, low key, no capā¦. I guess different generations have different slang. In my days it was chief, safe, geezer, innit etc.
Sandy_Bananas@reddit
Nah bredgrin, youāre on the new tip.
Tiny_Cauliflower_618@reddit
Hahaha I remember innit. Drove everyone over 30 round the twist š¤£
FigglebottomCat@reddit
innit is still massiv!!
Many-War5685@reddit
BOYAKASHA
zorba-9@reddit
When UK kids started identifying with the African American scene
Sandy_Bananas@reddit
Mate, that shit was a long time ago bruv. Which might have come from brah (s,affikan) or shortened version of mon brave.
Get me?
Direct-Apple-5011@reddit
That is rather a sick car my brother.
santh91@reddit
Indeed my male sibling
Hertstom@reddit
My sons say that car / chune, is a heater
Alternative-Wash-656@reddit
Thats so rad dude!!
AdPrior1417@reddit
Elite reference. Nicely done.
Direct-Apple-5011@reddit
š¤š«¤ššØ
gruffnutz@reddit
Sick whip fam
Open-Butterfly-5288@reddit
I think this has come back around.
It's been a thing as long as I remember. Before that, I think there was a period where it went out of fashion, but I think before that there was a similar thing happening.
macxjs@reddit
What? Are we not saying Daddio any more?
imjustsurfin@reddit
... or calling people "square", "cool cats"? ;-)
Human_Emergency_4431@reddit
hipsters, flipsters and finger poppin daddies
Midnight7000@reddit
This is an effective way of revealing you were a recluse in whatever generation you grew up in.
Embarrassed-Art-5076@reddit
I don't know, but I'd love it if they'd stop it.Ā
PurchaseDry9350@reddit
It's them making sure people know they're straight, same as saying 'mate' all the time
Specialist-Air-1954@reddit
No because Iām a girl and I say bro all the time itās not performative masculinity or insecurity haha
bbenjjaminn@reddit
isn't it a thinking word? (i know there's a better term for it but i can't remember) "like" and "you know" used to be very common among footballers in interviews to start every sentence as thinking words.
ThomasEichorst@reddit
Crutch words, I once got sent on an all day work course that aimed to eliminate it from speech. Did fuck all
bbenjjaminn@reddit
ohhh that makes sense! The best advice i got was just pause...If you listen to some great speech makers, they use a pause as a crutch word.
weird_princess@reddit
Literally I say bro to anybody even my mom lol
darybrain@reddit
My brother and cousin say geeza so much to each other that our little toddler nephew calls him Uncle Geeza
SkullDump@reddit
Definitely annoying when itās over used but nowhere near as embarrassing as kids using the word Feds for police. We donāt have Feds, shut the fuck up.
WB1173@reddit
It seems to have ramped up exponentially in recent months and it's annoying as hell. I assume someone 'cool' says it a lot, and everyone is just copying?
No_Grapefruit_2518@reddit
This made me chuckle as the mother of a 13 year old boy
Clothes_Chair_Ghost@reddit
Probably from YouTubers that did āprankā content for kids like Vitaly or JayStation. Those arseholes were terrible for it.
āItās just a prank bro! Bro, come on bro itās a prank bro!ā Then it became part of their inane lexicon when talking to the audience.
Well now those kids watching that crap have grown up and are creating the language of their generation.
Ceelogie@reddit
I've been saying it around my friends since like, the mid 2000s when I was a teenager.
Ok_Cow_3431@reddit
Im 40 at it was a common term in my mid teens. Massively amplified these days by south Asian culture on the internet but still let's not pretend it's a new term, it's easily been 25+ years
Technical_Ear_4339@reddit (OP)
True, but it wasn't the term itself, it was its rapid fire frequency in daily speech that seems to have come from nowhere over the last few years.
Normal-Internal164@reddit
Youāre so peng
Shot-Specialist-9841@reddit
Why does this country not understand that young people donāt want to talk like an extra on only fools and horses just because we are British doesnāt mean we have to walk around talking like an 80 year old you can think whatever you want about us walking around saying bro, fam, whatever but no one wants to go out talking to their social peers the same way their grandparents talk to them
Technical_Ear_4339@reddit (OP)
How did you get questioning the insertion of 'bro' every other word to wanting people to sound like an extra on Only Fools and Horses?
bababababoos@reddit
When I was at school in lil old Cornwall back in the early 00s it was 'pard'.
"Yeeeeeah pard"
There was even a gang of stoners known as "The Pards".
"Do you know Dan in year 10?" "Not sure you mean" "Oh yanno, one of The Pards"
The Pards!
Basically a bunch of idiots, as most teens were.
DarkStanley@reddit
Iām not your bro guy.
-C80-@reddit
Iām not your guy, friend.
PotentialRatio1321@reddit
Iām not your friend, mate
Flames_jesters654@reddit
I'm not your buddeh fwiend
Lanthanidedeposit@reddit
The hypobromite ion is under appreciated. Saviour of the hot tub
SithoDude@reddit
Whenn a woman calls me "bro" or "bruh", I respond in a confused tone with "sis"
bababababoos@reddit
I do this to my 6 year old son who calls me (his mother) "bro".
Worked for a while, now he just calls me by my first name. Think I'd rather be a 'bro'.
Sure-Exchange9521@reddit
And they've never laughed have they?
forestboy1@reddit
Ok Boomer
MteQmcC@reddit
Lao it cuzĀ
bollock_brains@reddit
Internet and yank influence
LegendEater@reddit
I hear it most from the Bradford types. It's made its way into more mainstream parts of culture.
captainfishpie@reddit
when they all became part of the bad boy chiller crew š
campbelljac92@reddit
Bad boy chiller crew are from the mush and charva generation, whatever this bro shit is I can guarantee you it's not west yorkshire chav
Polish_Shamrock@reddit
We used the word "Mush" in Yorkshire when the bad boy chiller crew were still fingerpainting and playing in the sandpit in nursery!
campbelljac92@reddit
That was last thursday tbf
Polish_Shamrock@reddit
They aren't actually that much younger than me to be fair but we were calling one another "Mush" over a decade before their first videos were uploaded.
"Shagger", "Cocka", "Chavi" "Mush" all well before their time. I will say I'd not heard "Charva" before they used it though but doubt it was something they came up with.
campbelljac92@reddit
I definitely heard it in Halifax in the 2000s when I were in my teens but it was usually when taking the piss out of people and they way they talked when they had just got out of Wetherby or Donny so I assume it was probably an earlier creation from further afield
Polish_Shamrock@reddit
We speak gud n propa in old Donny and tha can fuck off, get there and fuck off sum more if ya teking piss like!
TheRealDanSch@reddit
Are they not more about "mush" than "bro"?
RunawayPenguin89@reddit
Not just teenagers, my lads Highland Primary school is rife with it
Ok-Cheesecake-1891@reddit
Back when I was a teenager it was "Dan" yes Dan, what you saying then Dan
BTZ-25@reddit
I feel like during covid they all sat home and watched kidulthood on repeat.
MetalRocksMe_@reddit
Too much USA media!
Flames_jesters654@reddit
Why is that even a problem? It's just a term of endearment like mate.
Comprehensive-Tank92@reddit
It also comes after threats of severe violence. Like listen bro I'll do XYZ ... Reddit please don't ban me again . It's all about the context Bro Bot
Flames_jesters654@reddit
No it doesn't.
Comprehensive-Tank92@reddit
How do you know? Have you heard it being applied in every context?
Flames_jesters654@reddit
The exact same thing can also be applied to other terms of endearment
muckypup123@reddit
Did you take your meds today?
Comprehensive-Tank92@reddit
Give yourself peace bro.
Hertstom@reddit
American girls on YouTube and Discord use bro talking to one another, as a term of exasperation, like ābro what are you even talking aboutā?
RepublicWarm2383@reddit
Bro they started like 20 yrs ago blud
D0wnb0at@reddit
Dude, itās the same as when I grew up in the 80ās and 90ās dude, just a different word dude.
Broken_Vision_Rhythm@reddit
Theyāre just big fans of Four Lions. Rubber dinghy rapids, bro!
sonictuesday@reddit
You weren't old before. Now you are.
Intelligent-Sea3591@reddit
I'm a teenager and say bro but not all the time i say stuff like boss and mate as well I say it but not every other word it's just friendly talk though
stu3y69@reddit
Broisms have definetly increased in last few years,it creases me inside every time I hear it,just another fakism to add to the rest of the isms
ZakFellows@reddit
I mean is that any different from how people use the word "Mate" a lot?
They want to use their own words and have their own language and tics, let them.
DescriptionFuture851@reddit
Most netflix shows, YouTubers and tiktokers are American, they use Bro instead of mate.
Basically, it's what the younger people are watching these days, and the lingo rubbed off on them.
Personally, I (28m) use both.
himit@reddit
My six year old came home from nursery two years ago saying 'Bro'. It is what it is.
He's now got a three week old brother, and when we first brought the baby home and I was changing his nappy Mr 6 came storming into the room demanding to know "Why is bro crying?!"
LordSwright@reddit
It was dick when I was a teen Yeah dick, you comin shop dickĀ
MJ-Franklin@reddit
It's not just teenagers!
Trident_True@reddit
Bro is like so like 2010 you know like?
ChipCob1@reddit
I think it was weirder when everyone in early 90s hip hop was calling each other son!
Scarred_fish@reddit
Started around 1980, tailed off into the late 90s. Seriously embarrassing moron speak fron 2005 onwards.
GrandCoconut@reddit
I'm a teacher and told a student to stop saying 'bro' every sentence and his response was "Bro, I don't even say 'bro' that much, bro".
Longjumping-Dingo398@reddit
Iām nearly 25 and say bro/dude all the time š
RBisoldandtired@reddit
Been a thing since at least 2006-08 when How I Met Your Mother came on UK tvā¦
GayAttire@reddit
Bro? Like 20 years ago. Bruh is the in thing now, fam
redcloud226@reddit
Not even just teenagers, my peers in their 20s and 30s
Plane-Trip-3928@reddit
Allow it bro
Kamoebas@reddit
bruh
MedicalCook6653@reddit
New filler word
It was "like" when I was a young whippersnapper
Afinkawan@reddit
Probably soon after they stopped saying 'like' every other word, a bit longer after they stopped saying 'swear down' every few words, and even longer after they stopped saying 'innit' every other word.Ā
Soggy-Mistake8910@reddit
It's like when they all said like, like, all the like time!
NoFewSatan@reddit
The 80s
Physical_Reality_132@reddit
No cap, on God, bro
shabba182@reddit
Dunno bruv
Scotster123@reddit
My kids went through a phase of calling me "bro" in their early teens. They stopped because I just laughed at them.
DogtasticLife@reddit
The weapon of choice against kids and narcissists
Lychee_Only@reddit
Do you get me fam?
CodAdministrative765@reddit
No, like, they don't say, like, bro, like, every OTHER word. That's, like, a proper, like, exaggeration.
simonk1905@reddit
Just after they stopped saying right and like
VileyRubes@reddit
If you don't know the answer to that, you're cooked! š
OkDifficulty3834@reddit
Alright boomer
xpltvdeleted@reddit
I'm 40 and my mum used to go off on the fact we used to say 'like' 5 or 6 times every sentence.
Wickermanman@reddit
Doesn't bother me half as much as people saying like every other word
spudgun81@reddit
Bro,it's YouTube bro
gd77punk@reddit
It's not new. It's just blown TF up with bro culture
CurvyMule@reddit
Brah
cognitiveglitch@reddit
Must be the new bruv huh bro
Emergency_Data9678@reddit
I donāt know bro
SeenEnoughAlready@reddit
My 12 year old niece tried to "Bro" me last week. She got a VERY long "Who the F are you talking to" stare and a raised eye brow.... Secretly inside I was dying that my sweet little cute niece was no longer in there!
Zealousideal-Soil-41@reddit
Itās just thing bruh, trends come and trends go, pay it no heed
Shitelark@reddit
I was coming out of a hotel in Canning Town and a youth seemed to shout "YO!" in my direction. This not being a common greeting in my native region of the United Kingdom, I did not respond and moved swiftly onwards. I did wonder if he was related to Detective Dempsey of the NYPD?
bloodXgreen@reddit
It was straight after they stopped not saying āBroā every other word.
elbapo@reddit
The couples calling each other bro kinda throws me
SplitOpenAndMelt420@reddit
I'm 41, and "dude" "man" and "bro" have been basically interchangeable for my entire life
It's not new
Material-Bee-907@reddit
It came hot on the heels of being asked āAll ok guys?ā In multiple circumstancesā¦ā¦ā¦..itās an Americanisation which seems unstoppable. Whatās next?
Electrical-Secret445@reddit
my science teacher says "guys" every thirty seconds and it annoys me immensely
gr0tty@reddit
Ok lil bro
Alarming_Doughnut365@reddit
Chill bro
Significant_Bear3843@reddit
Wait till someone "starts throwing shade" his head will explode.every generation thinks they invented a new language. Did the most drugs,sex etc
wazbang@reddit
Itās gone cray bro
Majestic-Camel2927@reddit
Mate/bro has been around for years. Donāt think thereās anything wrong with it in an informal setting between pals.
Hopeful_Lake9382@reddit
some from american culture, but personally i had an immigrant friend that called everyone brother, so it was normalised for me
5ubredhit@reddit
Itās not really any different to when we used to say āmanā years ago. Another term will come along at some point.Ā
trypnosis@reddit
Duno bro
Competitive_Test6697@reddit
Low-key? You typed so much for so little
pajakpajakpajak@reddit
Bold words from someone with 152k karma. I'm sure your contributions are all excellent and not at all a colossal waste of time.
One-Fig-4161@reddit
I think people are misunderstanding this one. Itās not an American thing and itās not a 90s thing, these were reasons in the past.
Nowadays, itās a way of reasserting masculinity. Itās a way of letting other dudes know youāve got their back, itās solidarity. Many other demographics do this. I donāt think this is even a bad thing. Itās rough out there as a young guy these days.
Rembrandt72_@reddit
It was a thing in the early 2010s when I was at school.
mainukfeed@reddit
10 years ago, when i was a teenager.
DiskBytes@reddit
It's a part of diversity innit bro.
Sarrymino@reddit
It did used to be uncool to say bro in those times. Iām thinking Bart Simpson. The only people Iād ever hear saying bro would be the ācoolā surfer dudes or skaters usually American
Odd-Artichoke-5123@reddit
I heard an irate mother screaming I will fucking bro you ya bastard at her son who was on the phone talking bro speak to a drug dealer
rice_fish_and_eggs@reddit
It started ironically about 15 years ago with Jersey Shore.
GeggingIn@reddit
Steady on, chat.
Redsetter@reddit
Thatās cool man/dude/you crazy cat (delete as appropriate for your decade)
Musicality123@reddit
That was huge between American males in the '90s but I thought it had phased out over there. Bit late for the youth of Britain to be adopting it.
Thundercunt247@reddit
eggpotion@reddit
As a 17 year old this is a bit of an exaggeration but yes an amount of guys say 'bro' in sentences.
Weird-Judge-4578@reddit
honestly bro its just easy to say bro
Huge-Brick-3495@reddit
Dunno bro
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