British address term for a friend or stranger — "bro" / "mate." Heavy in London and spread via UK drill and grime. "Bruv, you can't just queue-jump at Pret" lands exactly as punchy in print as it does in person. MLE staple since the 2000s.
bruv means British address term for a friend or stranger — "bro" / "mate." Heavy in London and spread via UK drill and grime. It's mostly used in British informal speech. It's casual and generally safe with friends and online. It's standard online vocabulary; nothing inherently concerning about hearing it.
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
Add your own interpretation of "bruv".
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with B.
This bloke screams "oi bruv can I 'ave pie & mash plees?"
"Bruv, you can't just queue-jump at Pret."
“Editorial Manager Building PDF, any time now, just another couple of hours to put those two files together in a PDF, soon bruv, soon...”
“this train station is Chopped bruv”
“This bloke screams "oi bruv can I 'ave pie & mash plees?"”
“so many ppl I gotta talk to for finals week but aaaughhhh “do it scared” bruv i have disorders, the baseline for anything is “terrified for my life””
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