South African "Bru"

Question

In yesterday's Madam & Eve , the rand addresses the dollar by saying "Hey!! You looking at something, Bru?!!"
What's "Bru" in South African English? A cursory search turned up a page that claims that it's short for "brother", like (mostly African-) American "Bro", but I wouldn't expect that to be used in a hostile way like that. Is there more to it?

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[nq:1]In yesterday's Madam & Eve , the rand addresses the dollar by saying "Hey!! You looking at something, Bru?!!" ... "Bro", but I wouldn't expect that to be used in a hostile way like that. Is there more to it?[/nq]
No, not much more, it is just short for brother. However it has some class overtones. A surfer boy, or a low-lifer would be more likely to call people 'bru' than an articulate middle-class educated person, who would only use the phrase ironically when describing such a low-life.

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[nq:2]In yesterday's Madam & Eve , the rand addresses ... a hostile way like that. Is there more to it?[/nq]
[nq:1]No, not much more, it is just short for brother.[/nq]
Is it pronounced /bru/ (i.e., "brew") or /brV/ (as in the first syllable of "brother")?
-Aaron J. Dinkin
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[nq:2]No, not much more, it is just short for brother.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is it pronounced /bru/ (i.e., "brew") or /brV/ (as in the first syllable of "brother")?[/nq]
Last time I heard it ('twas many years ago) I assumed it was a shortened form of "broer" - which would rhyme with "boer".

So one way to figure it out is to think how you would pronounce "boer".
And that depends a lot on which side your ancestors were on in the unpleasantness of 1899-1902 (Think Mafeking and Ladysmith)

With an "oh" or an "oo"...
And totally unlike Br'er Rabbit, but related in a funny way.

Jitze

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[nq:1]In yesterday's Madam & Eve , the rand addresses the dollar by saying "Hey!! You looking at something, Bru?!!" ... "Bro", but I wouldn't expect that to be used in a hostile way like that. Is there more to it?[/nq]Yes, there is. You are mixing up your languages inadvertantly as a result of your misunderstanding of the word's etymology.. A "bru" is in one particular South African dialect a shortened form of the Spanish "brujo," a male witch or sorcerer. You see, in the 18th century a group of natives made a journey up to the Spanish Sahara. While there, they ran afoul of a "brujo," who, awakened from a happy siesta by what he took to be unpleasant jabbering noises in the same way, perhaps, that the ancient Greeks considered all tongues not their own to be barbarous, that is to say tormented the offenders with insects and caused them all sorts of other misery, until they fled back down to their home in what is today called South Africa.

As a result, when South Arfricans of that particular dialect find someone to be annoying, or a pest, or a jinx, or whatever, they call them "bru." So when someone says to you, "Hey, bru," don't be certain that they mean to be brotherly.
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[nq:2]No, not much more, it is just short for brother.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is it pronounced /bru/ (i.e., "brew") or /brV/ (as in the first syllable of "brother")?[/nq]
Neither really, more /bru/, but with a much shorter sound and a rising stress as in an interrogative towards the end of the syllable.

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Usenet · Answer

Compare "buddy," which comes from "brother" and can be used in either a friendly or hostile way.
[nq:2]No, not much more, it is just short for brother.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is it pronounced /bru/ (i.e., "brew") or /brV/ (as in the first syllable of "brother")?[/nq]
I would expect it to rhyme with "shoe". In Dutch, from which Afrikaans is descended, the word "brother" is "broer," and "oe" has the sound u/oo/ew.
However, you never know what happens. A page on "Seth Efrikenisms" says there are two words:
Brah
Buddy, associate, peer, colleague, friend, etc...
Most often used amongst the "rookers" pot-smokers - "Hoesit, my brah!"
Bru
see above, same as Brah.
Whether that means there are two pronunciations or two spellings, I don't know. Maybe one came from "broer" and the other from "brother."

Another page on Johannesburg slang has only:
Bru friend/anyone male
We need a sound check. Hey, Steve Hayes hasn't been around in a ten days or so.

Best Donna Richoux

South African "Bru"

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