PROMPT: If you could permanently ban a word from general usage,
which one would it be? Why?

– WordPress.org

My word would be bruh, no contest. If you’re not familiar, bruh, is a lazy-ass way of saying bro, which is a shortened form of brother. Brother is a term of endearment, or, at least, familiarity. However, bruh has a slightly disrespectful connotation. My teen calls me that every-so-often. It’s agravating.

My teenage son doesn’t think it sounds negative, but I told him my reasoning: he is trying to make me his equal and I am NOT his equal, I am his MOTHER. I’ve banned that word from my home. I told him that I didn’t even want him using that word at school, for fear that he will lose respect for his teachers and elders and that I did not raise him that way. He just looks at my in disbelief and shakes his head. Does he use that word at school? Yes, I know he does. He butt dialed me when he was on the school bus, on the way home and he was talking with two other boys and they all called each other bruh. No lie. You should’ve seen my son’s eyes after I told him I didn’t approve of the topic of that convo. They were talking about a girl’s reputation of “ill repute.” He and I had an even longer talk about how he was NOT going to be THAT guy. Period.

So, for any and all adults reading this blog post, DO NOT let your minor child or grandchild call you bruh. Grabbing them by their ear when they say it, is an acceptible deterent, only if you are their parent or grandparent. Otherwise, just DON’T. I did that the second time my son did it, and he still stops and thinks, even in mid-bruh, about my consequences. You see, I was raised in the South, so everything is “sir” or “ma’am.” When I talk to him, I still expect him to call me “ma’am.” I am my kids’ mother, not their BFF. Parents who try to be their children’s ‘best friend,’ are encouraging them to think of them as equals, which is doing them a major disservice.

Okay, rant over. This just seemed like a very apt topic to voice my dislike for the current slang. Now the word, dude, I can tolerate. The word, dude, to me, is gender neutral these days. I still prefer “ma’am” or “Mom,” to anything! I earned that title! <3