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I am from Sweden but I have been living in New York for about a decade, and one thing that I have noticed is that a lot of American people (mostly males) often call other male strangers "bros" when they want their attention - this seems to happen a lot at universities and similar places like that.
For example, they might ask a group of guys for help with something and be like "excuse me, bros".
My question is - how acceptable is it to greet strangers this way?
Is it considered "rude" in some way, or is it welcomed most of the time?
Personally I think that "bros" sounds quite friendly, like you think of those strangers as comrades.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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I live in a town full of fellow millennials and it's pretty accepted. I typically address friends as "bruh" the more urban version of "bros". I think bros is a little fratty while "bruh" is more used in urban black communities.
Frats and universities are mentioned. That is because there is some, even small, level of comfort/familiarity around someone you call bro. Not necessarily right in the same boat, but around the same boat at least in their situation...and having similar feelings as you about that boat. Same group, same sport, same obvious feelings (rooting for same team, having as much difficulty with a project or subject as you).
I am from Sweden but I have been living in New York for about a decade, and one thing that I have noticed is that a lot of American people (mostly males) often call other male strangers "bros" when they want their attention - this seems to happen a lot at universities and similar places like that.
For example, they might ask a group of guys for help with something and be like "excuse me, bros".
My question is - how acceptable is it to greet strangers this way?
Is it considered "rude" in some way, or is it welcomed most of the time?
Personally I think that "bros" sounds quite friendly, like you think of those strangers as comrades.
New York is not America: what is okay to do in one place may not be okay to do in another. So your question is too general to answer.
I think it depends on the area and saying like that are typically from the younger set. When I was growing up every male was a "dude" when you greeted another guy it was "hey, what's up dude", now I guess it's bro. Back in the day some guys said that, but back then it was mostly surfers and it was a variant of "brah" or bro. Brah was more typically a Hawaiian islands greeting and here on the west coast I think it morphed in bro.
Bro sounds a little stupid to me, but I guess "dude" probably sounded a little stupid to our parents. LOL.
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