“Bruh” is the Dutch Children’s Word of the Year 2024

The slang word “bruh” was selected as the Children’s Word of the Year 2024 in a poll held by NOS Jeugdjournaal. Some 130,000 votes were cast in the first-ever contest organized by the youth-oriented news program.

The word “bruh” is used to express disbelief or disappointment, but also can be used in response to something funny or silly. Like the word “bro,” often a friendly reference to an individual, bruh is derived from the English word, brother.

Since early December, children have been able to submit words that they think should have a chance of becoming Children’s Word of the Year via the NOS Jeugdjournaal website. The editors of the TV program then compiled a list of the most common words.

Bruh faced competition from bro, but also from six other options. Specifically, glamour, ohio, rizzler, sigma, skibidi, and slay.

The slang word, ohio, from the location in the United States, is used by younger people to indicate something that is creepy, or weird. Rizzler is a superlative form of rizz, which itself is a shortened form of charisma or charismatic.

Sigma is a reference to a sort of strong, silent type. Skibidi originates from a viral song and video, but can mean anything from really cool to really bad or dumb.

The term “slay,” has long been used as a verb by entertainers as a synonym to “kill,” to describe when their performances did really well. Younger generations also use the word to describe something or someone that is stunningly good.