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In day-to-day use, you would not hear people saying "brother", instead. It just doesn't happen. "Bro", in this context, has evolved.
by noarchy 3y ago
In day-to-day use, you would not hear people saying "brother", instead. It just doesn't happen. "Bro", in this context, has evolved.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoI get that it is an abbreviation, but does it have new meaning? What meaning or connotation would be lost if a user of the word said brother instead of bro? Would there be confusion?
- noarchy 3y ago>Would there be confusion? No, but it would be unusual. You don't hear people using a term like "crypto brothers", for instance. "Bro" carries a different connotation, and it isn't a positive one in this example. I don't think it is simply an abbreviation in this case.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoIn this example, do you think the speaker of the quote was using it in a negative connotation? I think it's pretty clear that that is not the case.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hunter2_ 3y agoPrecisely. The speaker might happen to be "a bro" in the derogatory sense of the word (especially given involvement in an activity that may have a significant population of those people), but that's fairly distinct from simply calling someone "bro" as used in this quote. But I do say "fairly" because bros (in the derogatory sense) probably also call each other "bro" (in the sense that someone is close like a brother) at a rate that exceeds baseline. That elevated rate is probably pertinent to the etymology of the derogatory sense, come to think of it.
- hunter2_ 3y agoI have definitely been greeted with "what's up, brother?" several times. And I took it exactly the same as when other people have greeted me with "what's up, bro?" -- the former came from someone a bit older than me, and the latter came from someone my age. Intent was 100% identical as far as I could tell.
- noarchy 3y agoThat may have been the case, but it does not mean that all such uses are 100% identical.