Meaning(s) of the word "bre" in Serbian language If you ever heard a person from Serbia talking, you have probably noticed that we use the word "bre" a lot. Ever wondered what it means? Well, there are many theories and we can't be sure that any one of those is true, but one thing is for certain: they are fun :) First of all, this words is used always and can basically be used in any context. Mostly, it is used to emphasize something, so you will often hear people saying things like "Ćao, bre", "Gde si, bre?!", "Uh, bre", "Ajde, bre", "Što si lepa, bre", "Mnogo si, bre, dosadan" itd. In other words, you can use it whenever you like. It is often heard in an informal talk, so it is good to avoid it when talking to elderly people, your boss, the police or anyone else who has a higher "rank" than you. So, how did it come to exist and does it have a meaning? One theory is that is came from a Turkish word that means a fool or a donkey (or ass), but no one can say which Turkish word was the forefather of "bre". Since today's Serbia was one part of the Ottoman empire, a lot of our words come from Turkish language and it is always easy to say that any "strange" word comes from Turkish, which is probably how this idea came to be :) Another theory is that it is a short version of the word "brother" (brat or brate) that is also often used by urban youth - "Brate, dobra su ti kola", "Brate, mnogo sam gladan" itd. Apparently, it is similar to the way the English word "brother" became "bro". Finally, some people say that it is actually a shorter version of the Spanish word "hombre" (man) and that it was brought to Serbia by the Sephardi Jews who ran away from Spain to the Ottoman empire (and thus Serbia) in the 16th century. Thus, "hombre" became "bre" :) All of these theories are quite interesting, but I remain skeptical about believing in any of them. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?