connotation of English "bro"

[Paz B. Naylor]

As the mother of 5 sons between the ages of 57 and 46, I agree with what you
say about the use of 'bro' in English: "It shows a casual intimacy, and not
derogatory at all."

 

Also, not just in Palawan, but in most parts of the Philippines,
'mistir'[mis.tÍ/ér] is used to mean “sir” (when addressing an older male
stranger).

 

With kind regards and best wishes,

 

Paz B. Naylor

 

 

PAZ BUENAVENTURA NAYLOR Ph.D.

Emeritus: Associate Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures

          Program Associate, Linguistics

          Faculty Associate, Center for SSEAsian Studies

Formerly: Assistant Professor, Linguistics

          Lecturer, Teaching Fellow, Romance Languages 

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 48109 

Home Address: 2032 Winsted Blvd., Ann Arbor MI 48103

     Tel/Fax: 734-995-2371

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: an-lang-bounces at anu.edu.au [mailto:an-lang-bounces at anu.edu.au] On
Behalf Of Bill and Donna Davis
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 7:55 AM
To: an-lang at anu.edu.au
Subject: Re: [An-lang] connotation of English "bro"

 

Greetings all,

 

Waruno,

 

I question the idea of _bro_ in English being either derogatory or  

mening "white trash male." I have never heard it used in either of  

those ways, but rather it is used extensively among males of a certain  

generation (mine, in fact... i.e. baby boomers, I am 54). It is very  

much analogous to Australian "mate." It shows a casual intimacy, and  

it not derogatory at all. The younger generations, such as my  

daughters and their peers, tend to prefer _dude_ (which interestingly,  

is now gender NON-specific! my son-in-law calls my daughter "dude").  

Others use _bra_ which is cultural imitation of Jamaican/reggae  

version of _bro_.

 

Also, among the Batak of Palawan island, Philippines, _mistir_ is used  

as an English borrowing with the sense of "sir."

 

-Bill

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/an-lang/attachments/20100121/1924e046/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
An-lang mailing list
An-lang at anu.edu.au
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang