What Constitutes A 'Bruh Moment'?
“Bruh.” A harrowing four-letter response received following a dicey gamble to send that message in the group chat. The reply is slow. The air is thick and tense as you watch your friends quickly try to change the subject and then you’re left befuddled in the wake of your own “Bruh Moment.” Relatable, truly. We have all been guilty of causing some kind of Bruh Moment, even before the term was coined. The Bruh Moment, at its heart, has always been linked with humanity’s most awkward social interactions with one another. But what does that really look like?
Usually—but not necessarily—bruh moments are associated with something sour. Something... cringeworthy. But “bruh” also has a bit of the same leniency as a word like “bitch,” famous for its chameleon-like ability to blend into any context and be used for a variety of intended meanings based on the user’s tone of voice.
Simply put, a Bruh Moment is a classification term for any situation that merits a strong emotional reaction. This emotional reaction could be anger, disgust, shock, awe—the list goes on and on. The only stipulation is that the reaction felt must be strong enough to make one verbally utter “bruh.”
The best Bruh moment can be seen in the famous Vine of a man in court, presumably receiving his verdict, bellowing, “Bruh!” and then quickly and swiftly falling to the floor. Comparatively, someone cutting you off on the highway, stepping on your shoes, or obviously begging for attention on finsta, could also elicit a similar reaction.
These moments can be difficult to identify at first, so for the sake of exposition, I will share with you a Bruh Moment that I myself witnessed with my very own eyes. It was syllabus week in one of the 100 level drama courses for non-majors. I figured, ‘Why not try out a fun little drama course? Besides, it’s a prerequisite for playwriting!’
After the first class, I immediately dropped and never returned.
I’m sure you’re wondering if I am overreacting. The answer is no. There in the far left corner of the wide theater classroom sat a guy who kind of seemed like one of those assholes who doesn’t really pay attention in class but loves to raise their hand and say what’s on their mind anyway. You know the kind. He went on and on and on in the corner, unmistakably flirting with this girl who seemed indifferent to him. Juxtapose this guy with the professor himself. He brags about himself in between awkward attempts to engage students, while simultaneously remaining unable to stop himself from correcting anything worth correcting in any response to any of his questions (dates, fun facts, you name it). I knew the stage was set for a supernova when these two were to interact.
Of course, the room wasn’t big enough for the two of them, so when the professor asked for the class’ favorite plays, the aforementioned fellow’s hand shot up. Now was his time to woo the lady sitting next to him with his vast theater intelligence. He said the name of some French play (he made sure to mention it was French) and noted that the reason he loved it so much was for its “surrealism.” The professor, poised and ready for this response like an all-knowing golem of wisdom, promptly said, “Eh, I think it’s more absurdism than surrealism.”
As I’m sure you can understand, I had to physically restrain myself from saying, much less texting a friend that famed four-letter word: “Bruh.” I don’t know if I can think of a conversation more emotionally worthy of a loud, firm “Bruh!” than an argument between a student and teacher over whether a niche French play is surrealist or absurdist.
But although I have made it out to sound like something intense, a Bruh Moment is, by nature, truly not very important. It’s just another name and sound association to mark the little snippets of our day that have gotten a reaction out of us. They make our lives interesting; steadfast curveballs are thrown our way every day that make us take a step back and make us say, “Wait a minute... Did I just hear what I think I heard? Did I just see what I think I saw?” And maybe that’s for the best.