Should "bromance" really be in the dictionary? Thread poster: Amy Duncan (X)
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Amy Duncan (X) 
Brazil
Local time: 12:48
Portuguese to English
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IrimiConsulting
Sweden
Local time: 16:48
Member (2010)
English to Swedish
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| Why shouldn't it... | Aug 26, 2011 |
... be in the dictionary if it's in the language?
[Edited at 2011-08-26 14:06 GMT]
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 16:48
French to German
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| I don't dare to think... | Aug 26, 2011 |
what contraction was thought of here? "Bromid" and "romance"?
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Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 12:48
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
what contraction was thought of here? "Bromid" and "romance"?
I imagine it's "brotherly romance."
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 16:48
French to German
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| This is the danger... | Aug 26, 2011 |
Amy Duncan wrote:
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
what contraction was thought of here? "Bromid" and "romance"?
I imagine it's "brotherly romance."
namely that twisted minds like mine see some evil where there is none.
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Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 12:48
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER |
Phil Hand
China
Local time: 23:48
Chinese to English
| First you need to get the word "bro" | Aug 26, 2011 |
I don't think bromance is a contraction of "brotherly", or rather, not directly. It's a portmanteau of bro and romance, so you have to know a bit about the way "bro" has evolved.
Irmi's right, if people actually use the word, then of course it should go in the dictionary. The question is whether anyone outside a very small set of Californian television writers does use it. I'm not convinced yet.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:48
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Never heard of it | Aug 26, 2011 |
I've never heard of nor seen the word "bromance" and hope never to again. So much for dictionaries. Apparently they also think the word "aerodrome" is no longer worth keeping.
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:48
Hebrew to English
"English is a living language" yes, but I think they are acting hastily to include such slang items in the dictionary.
Like most slang, it's transitory, and will probably fall out of usage before they new dictionaries have had time to collect dust.
The professor has a point when he suggests allowing more malleable conduits to record slang usage (i.e. online [slang] dictionaries).
With language that is so bound up with fashionable trends and fads, why spend... See more "English is a living language" yes, but I think they are acting hastily to include such slang items in the dictionary.
Like most slang, it's transitory, and will probably fall out of usage before they new dictionaries have had time to collect dust.
The professor has a point when he suggests allowing more malleable conduits to record slang usage (i.e. online [slang] dictionaries).
With language that is so bound up with fashionable trends and fads, why spend the time and money putting it in print. It will be out of date in 6 months time.
As for "bromance", despite sources saying that its origins go back to the 90's. I have only begun to hear and read this term in the past 2-3 years. And only spurred on by shows like "How I met your mother".
In addition, it's American English usage and therefore cannot be assumed to represent the wider global English context. And despite what Americans would like to think, American English is not the be all and end all of the English language.
If you exclude it's comedic effect, how often do you need to articulate the close, but non-sexual friendship between two or more men? It's relatively obscure semantic meaning means it is unlikely to be used with any real frequency to enshrine it in the vernacular in the first place (long term).
Even ubiquitous slang like "innit" (with extremely high frequency) probably hasn't found its way into the official dictionaries (I may be wrong on that point - innit is VERY popular). But I'm sure there are more frequent slang terms than Bromance that still haven't found a place in the main dictionaries. ▲ Collapse
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Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 16:48
Italian to English
In memoriam | Pity about the aerodrome | Aug 26, 2011 |
Tom in London wrote:
I've never heard of nor seen the word "bromance" and hope never to again. So much for dictionaries. Apparently they also think the word "aerodrome" is no longer worth keeping.
Pity.
What about two heterosexual males who develop a close relationship while working at an airfield? Would that be an "aerodromance" or an "aerobromance"? Or just a light-hearted "dromcom"?
YCTIF
(You can tell it's Friday)
Giles
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 16:48
French to German
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| French usage | Aug 26, 2011 |
Tom in London wrote:
I've never heard of nor seen the word "bromance" and hope never to again. So much for dictionaries. Apparently they also think the word "aerodrome" is no longer worth keeping.
At least French will continue to use "aérodrome" rather that some made-up word derived from "airfield" (B.E. military vocabulary as far as I am concerned).
[Edited at 2011-08-26 14:54 GMT]
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:48
Spanish to English
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| Groan... LOL | Aug 26, 2011 |
[quote]Giles Watson wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
What about two heterosexual males who develop a close relationship while working at an airfield? Would that be an "aerodromance" or an "aerobromance"? Or just a light-hearted "dromcom"?
YCTIF
(You can tell it's Friday)
Giles
As a fan of dreadful puns, those cheered me up, cheers Tom.
"Bromance", while annoying to some, is quite common parlance in movie reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, yet IMO largely unused by the public at large, as are "chickflick" and other similarly "wannabe-cool-yet still-unavoidably-naff" terms. I don't have a problem with dictionaries including them, as long as it's with the caveat "slang, likely short-lived" or something like that.
Slightly off topic, I was always surprised that the Spanish DRAE didn't include "carajillo" until I'd been quaffing them for several years...
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Caryl Swift
Poland
Local time: 16:48
Polish to English
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| Possibly off-topic...? | Aug 27, 2011 |
@ Groan... LOL
I love this:
"wannabe-cool-yet still-unavoidably-naff" terms
Thank you!
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