Lil Bro (Slang)

About

Lil Bro, shorthand for Little Brother, is an AAVE slang term primarily used online when referring to people who are younger than you, especially when they seem unaware of something in discourse. Originally used when meaning only your blood-related little brother, the term slowly changed in pop culture after it was used in a noticeable effort by Justin Bieber before being used to refer to Bieber himself. In early 2020s meme culture, lil bro then began to be used as a catch-all term for any young kid shown in a meme, similar to "blud." While not always negative in nature, the slang term can also be used in a derogatory manner meant to belittle or insult someone depending on the context, particularly when attempting to call someone ignorant.

Origin

In real life, "lil bro" is the term used when referring to a little brother, related by blood, adopted or step. Online, the term started to appear prominently on social media platforms after Justin Bieber used it on Twitter in the early 2010s. On May 29th, 2010, Bieber^[1] tweeted out a hint as to his upcoming song "Never Say Never" featuring Jaden Smith, while also calling Jaden his "Lil Bro," getting over 1,500 likes 14 years ago and being the first instance of "Lil Bro" in a post with high engagement (shown below).

This trend of Bieber calling Jaden Smith "lil bro" would continue until late 2010 when Bieber would call himself "lil bro" in tweets when talking about his performances and coming in to see artists like Usher at the studio. Starting in 2011, other celebrities in the hip-hop and pop communities would refer to Justin Bieber as "lil bro," such as Usher, Rick Ross, Rihanna, Boyz II Men and Sean Kingston. This usage of lil bro would become the first definition on Urban Dictionary seven years later, posted by user Kathely^[2] on November 12th, 2018 (shown below).

Spread

In 2021, Lil Bro started to spread in memes as an alternative usage to slang terms like "blud," but only when used in reference to younger people. For example, on September 6th, 2021, TikToker morrisgotkicks^[3] uploaded a TikTok in which he pretended to be a schoolkid who was caught lackin' in class, being captioned as "Lil Bro." The viral TikTok received over 360,000 likes in three years and helped spread lil bro as a common-use term online (shown below).

In 2023, the term became much more prevalent online but with a skew towards a more negative or demeaning connotation. Lil bro began to be used as a term similar to "son" in that it was used to talk down to someone else, which then created negative feedback in memes being made pushing back against it.

For example, on September 26th, 2023, TikToker farodbb^[4] uploaded a TikTok in which he negatively reacted to someone calling him lil bro and earned over 32,000 likes in five months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References