The common colloquial word bro, short for 'brother', describes a close friend, comrade, or pal. As a form of address, used to imply a sense of solidarity, and connection with the person being spoken to.

Usage

'How's it goin, bro?', 'Hey bro, can you give me a hand?', 'Chill out, bro.'

Origin

Bro, in its earliest form was used as an abbreviated address between Catholic Monks known as Brothers (eg: 'Brother Francis' : 'Bro. Francis'). It has also often been used to refer to a male sibling, but its recent popularity traces a different path.

The term Brother (also Soul Brother) has long been used by African-Americans to emphasize a solidarity and togetherness in their community. It puts emphasis on the notion of family; with family comes responsibility, and a sense of loyalty to eachother. Bro, then, as a shortened version of Brother, when used as a term of address is meant to convey a deeper connection than buddy, pal, or dude.

Evolution

Bro seems to have trickled through to the mainstream by several different paths. Its first wide spread use outside of the black community was seen in the slang of surfers, mostly in California, in the mid-80's, as a replacement for dude. The term as used by surfers was probably an alteration of the Hawaiian Pidgin term brah, which also means 'brother', and is used heavily by surfers in Hawaii, California, and around the world. Surfers often see themselves as part of an international community, united by culture, and philosophy, so their use of term bro has similar implications as noted above. These terms are both used heavily in 1989's Under the Boardwalk, where the 'lowks' use brah, and the 'valleys' use bro.

The use of bro in the mainstream received its first serious boost from the unlikely source Beverly Hills, 90210. This television program debuted in 1989, though bro was often used, dude was preferred, and it wasn't until several seasons later that bro took over. The main bro, Brandon, (played by Jason Priestley) would address his male friends with "'Sup bro?", when they came to him for advice, and "See you later, bro", when they parted. While the lesser bros, Dylan, Steve, and eventually David, would return the favor, their use of the term was less frequent. Though the wide popularity of this show alone may have been enough to propel the use of bro, a second serious boost can be attributed to the mainstreaming of Hip-Hop, and urban(ie: Afro-American and Latino) youth culture. In fact, among many urban, English speaking Latinos, bro seems to be serving the same role as amigo, ese or hue in Spanish (As amply demonstrated in the film Drive By).

Now that bro has been mainstreamed, it has begun to evolve and take on new forms. The term, as derived from surf culture, is used more than just as an address, it's used to describe a state of being. You might hear "He's a total bro", or "he's way broly", and this would imply something about his character that makes 'him' a good and worthwhile, bro. You also hear the rather unfortunate misappropriation; "bros before ho's", which forgets that the original Brother was in complement to Sister, not in contrast to it (Besides which, ho is anything but analogous to sister).

Is bro the dude for the new century? That bro is now finding huge popularity, and heavy use--both sincere and ironic--amongst college age kids suggests that this may be the case. It may be too early to tell though, and it's more likely they will evolve as complementary terms. In the past even the most zealous users of the term dude knew to try to avoid using it twice in one sentence, for example: "Where's my car, dude?", or "Dude, where's my car?". Though uttering "Dude, where's my car, dude?!?", in the past may have been unavoidable under such dire circumstances, it now can be completely avoided. The use of dude and bro in one sentence is hardly a faux pas, it is a virtue, and thus a simple "Dude, where's my car, bro?", goes a long way.

Other variations: brougham, brah, brohym