Bro~

[7thheaven]

Hi~

I am not good at speaking and writing English and also English Culture..

I always wanna know To Whom and when I can say "Bro"..

In my country and Korean language, How to call someone is seperated
between old and young... so I can not say a word "Bro" to someone very older
than I That is why I wanna know about it..

For example, though very close each other, I can not say bro to 50 year old
man.. He will kill me...

I am 30 years old, Can I call the word bro older than I?

When can I use Bro?



Thanks..

[keigo]

in english culture, bro is for someone whom u find close with...
or just a simple hi address only... dont anything much...

so you can simply call anyone bro.. will do..

[Diesel3443]

I agree with Keigo to some extent. I would not call someone signifiganly older than me bro. Peers, friends, ect.

[Orion76]

Vince, I think I know what you mean. In Asian languages it's polite to address a stranger or friend with "brother" or "sister" and there is a different word for "older brother" and "younger brother", but an older servant can not call his boss "younger brother" is that correct?

"Bro" is different, it means more something like "buddy" and it is used to address your equal but can be used both for someone 10 yrs older and 10 yrs younger. An 18 yr old would not address a 60 yr old as "bro" but he wouldn't address him as "buddy" either. The 60 yr old would probably not be offended being called "bro", it would just be unusual.

[7thheaven]

Thanks you all~!!!

[Adam]

ahh IMO use Bro whenever U like, it is a shortened term for "brother" I think.....

[moonpod]

The basic issue is this Vince: "bro" is a slang term for "brother" and is generally used for close friends and peers. In GENERAL you don't have those sorts of relationships with people 20 years older than you so it's not applicable. It's similar in Korea b/c you, as a 30 year old wouldn't call a 50 year old "hyung" either unless he really was not even b/c of the "typical" cultural norms, but b/c of the generational divide between a 50 and 30 year old. It's the same in America. The difference in America is that we don't use "hyung" and "tongseng". There's no differentiation for older and younger peers. Just one word.

[Orion76]

Chuck one difference though, if a kid calls an older guy "bro" in an Asian country that would be a blatant act of disrespect while in America the older guy may be flattered

[moonpod]

Timon, that gets back to the fact that in Korean there isn't really a term for "bro" or straight up brother. It's older or younger brother. Not just "brother".

[Orion76]

I understand, I live in Asia too

[nyfireman3097]

in my lineof work we call each other bro all the time the reason behind that is that we are a brotherhood and we ALL no moatter if we never met before or know each other for a long time we know that if we ever have a problem we all will be there for each other if its in a fire or if its in our life so old or young we say bro A.K.A Brother
Nick