I presume no one else cares, but it recently struck me that the results of this poll could be rather interesting (because in my opinion the use of the word Bro correlates with several other factors). Additionally I imagine the results of this poll would be wildly different on other forums (BB.com for example). I presume this isnt merely a California slang, if it is, well then the poll will be rather trivial.

Anyways, lets cut to the chase. Do you somewhat frequently refer to your friends as "Bro"?

From the midwest. My friends are called by name, dude, or buddy while in casual conversation. The latter two especially when telling/making jokes.

Yeah.. I'm in Ga.. We use their name, dude, or fag. Dawg is also very common.

SoCal has to be home of the 'call them anything but their name' mentality. Bro in Orange County is a derogatory term, it indicates trucker hats, bad tattoo's, driving lifted trucks, fighting, beer swilling and being generally a moron. Some how they also manage to bag the hottest girls. That must be attributed to the we roll 30 deep mentality that makes little rich girls feel so safe but so bad

Yeah, the results have me thinking this is a west coast phenomenon, but it could be just the culture of the board isnt very congruent with the mentality, if there is a general one.

I think that the word "Bro" when used by those outside the group can be a pejorative, but by those in the group it is a complement of sorts. Somewhat analogous to nigga/er.

I agree that "bro" is generally a derogatory term in my circle. Lame people are also referred to as "your boy", as in, "Yo, who is your boy over there curling in the squat rack?". "Brother", on the other hand, is used only to address the closest of friends.

something to add here, as I have many older (35+) friends we generally use 'sir' to each other for humor and light hearted comments. With women of the same age group I use 'dear' or 'girl' and they are more prone to call me by my first name.

In Montana, "bro" is used rarely and sarcastically. At least in my uhh... extensive... socializing.

Never really thought about this...most of my friends call everyone by their last names. I use first names pretty much always though if I know the person. Sometimes I'll say mate, which I guess is pretty weird, especially being from Georgia, if it's just a random person in conversation.

Only time I really use bro is when I'm around one of my friends that lives in Minnesota as he uses it constantly so when I'm around him it gets engrained into my head sometimes.

yes, but we are dripping with irony

I hang with 2 different groups. Group 1 is 30-45 y/o, bikers, mechanics, general blue collar laborers. We will use "bro" or "broski" every now and then.

Group 2 is 35-55 y/o, and very wealthy. Im the only one of the only ones who is not a millionare. Green Bay Packer Tyrone Williams is in our group of freinds, as well as NASCAR driver Jerry McCart, VP of the Novell Corp, the area's largest homebuilder, and actor Kevin James.(Among others...Not name dropping here, but giving you an idea of the type of people) Why they invite me to events and parties is beyond me.(Me and Jerry are building a jet dragster, thats how I met these people) Im 22 and just a poor student. We use "sir" and first names. No bro, buddy, pal etc.

Bro is pretty big in Dirty-Jerzy as well. I however, refuse to use it unless talking to or about my actual brother. As far as referring to close friends as "brother," I suppose I would use that title for one or two guys if and only if I had no actual brother. IMO it's kinda disrespectful to refer to a casual aquaintance as either "bro" or "brother." Disrespecful to yr real brother that is. -V

Amazing the sheeit I'll waste time thinking/typing about when I have nothing to do on a Friday night, huh?

In the corporate / finance sector (in Sweden) it seems everybody use the last name of their buddies. Especially the alpha-males.
Other trademarks include loud voice and being overly positive/assertive.

Derogatory stuff include "chief" which can be used ironically in a positive or negative way depending on context.

I frequently get called 'chief' by younger men I don't know well tradesmen, store clerks, etc...

I thought I was the only one!

I'm in GA now, but originally from NJ, and always refused to use the word 'bro'. A long time ago here that word was even 'banned' or whatever, and it would show up as *** I think it was Dante or Caleb that did this in response to the goobers over at BBing.com.

Most often words I use are dude, mayne (or mein, however it's spelled), mate, man, fool, boss, chief, and killer...in order of occurrence. I use all these words with both actual friends and 'not-so-much-a-friend' people.