Brolic Isn’t a Real Word ?!

“So when was yall going to tell me brolic is not a word?” The statement played through the speaker of my phone, a thick New York accent bounced off the cream colored walls. This snapped me out of my mindless scrolling on TikTok, causing me to sit up on my plush bed. Frozen on my phone was a woman who could have been in her twenties or late thirties at the most. She had long blonde braids, a nose ring, and some collarbone tattoos. She made comedy videos about being from New York City and current things going on in the city that both me and my mom enjoyed. Once I unpaused the video, she continued. “ All my life I’ve been saying brolic, and no one was going to tell me what’s up, that’s crazy.” “Here I am thinking everyone knows what brolic means, but nah, it’s just a New York thing.” Then the video started from the top, looping again. 

There I was, sitting there looking stupid. How did I not know it’s not a “real” word? Why did no one tell me brolic is slang? I used this word so many times that I can’t even count. I thought I could tell the difference between slang and “real” words. Are there other fake words I’m using without knowing? Are there people who know this, or are they just like me? All of these thoughts filled my head, but the last one stuck out the most.

With a quick couple of scrolls through the comments and searching up “ Brolic isn’t a real word”. I was able to see that the confusion was not only universal but also intergenerational. It’s like everyone living in this city made up of five boroughs, thought the term was a part of the English language, until they were informed it’s not. It was so strange how we all used this term in the same context, and all had similar answers about its meaning.

Brolic: used to describe something as really muscular, strong, or big

While this experience made me question myself, it also made me question and reflect on English in general. What are words?  When I think of words in this sense, I  think of the building blocks of a language used to communicate verbally. Then, an even bigger question came to my mind.  What makes a word real? Is it only real when it’s placed in a fancy dictionary that receives the praise of many. Or when a bunch of scholars agree that certain sounds used in a certain structure have a certain meaning. 

Sharp pressure invaded my head, like I tried to squeeze every drop of juice out of my brain to answer these questions. So, I decided to let go of these thoughts. The pitter patter of my bare feet against the light and dark gray speckled tiles echoed through my apartment. I made my way to my mother, who was lounging on the wrinkled brown couch, to use more fake words when I talked to her. 

The discovery I made on that day didn’t erase any of the slang that I use when I speak to others. It did, however, open my eyes to the effects that hierarchy in language has on the masses. This distinction of words being real or fake is very detrimental to communication as a whole. It makes the use of languages that are born from people from a specific area seem shameful. This can come in the form of embarrassment or even constant nitpicking of a person’s speech.  The result of the negative outlooks due to this division can lead to the death of many beautiful and unique dialects that branch off from standard English. Well, they also kill a major part of what makes certain people themselves due to their form of communication being stripped away.