Topic: "Brothers" or "Browes"?

When I was around 12 or 13 Super Mario Bros. came out for the NES. And everyone who went was talking about it was pronouncing out the Bros part fully saying "Super Mario Brothers."

But more recently people have been reading the abbreviation and instead of replacing the abbreviation for the word, "brothers", when they speak they speak out the abbreviation like it was a word, in other words pronouncing it as "browes".

This seems like a very recent phenomenon because I've only heard that pronunciation on the internet. In real life with all my friends it's replaced with the full word, Brothers.

Then again what happens if I research the puzzle game with the pills that fall down that star Mario? If these people are being consistent, it would be pronounced as "Duhrr Mario." Exactly like if you were a computer and reading the word "Dr."

But I never heard Duhrr Mario on any internet page. Why is there replacement in the word "Dr." but simple as-written sounding out in the word "Bros."

I've learned that you do not "sound out" proper abbreviations, but speak the word that that abbreviation replaces.

(And no we're not talking about acronyms, like radar or scuba, where the phrase abbreviation spells out a letter group that could be said like a word.)

Also if you were around back when Super Mario Bros. was released, did you fully sound out the word brothers or use the verbal abbreviation of Bros.?

@tripletopper I always said brothers. Yeah, why didn't Nintendo just spell out the word?

Maybe since they Mario & Luigi are plumbers, using the abbreviation, "Bros.", fit the backstory that Mario & Luigi had business as plumbers. In which case, company names on signs commonly abbreviate "brothers". I think so they can maximize font size on a sign for visibility? Because they'd have to use a smaller font to squeeze in the longer word "Brothers".

(Kmart was where I first saw Super Mario Bros. The store had the Super Mario Brothers demo playing on the tv at the front the electronics section, and it blew my mind.)

I think it should be spelt with a Z so it’s more edgy, Super Mario BroZ! ;p

I have always said brother's, I have sometimes said it like, Bruthers .(Take that for what you will)

It's Bros, as in the 80s pop group

@jump Yeah, that'll attract all the kidZZZ!

I remember some kids at school genuinely pronouncing it like this which really annoyed me lol

I usually say 'brothers' but it doesn't bother me if people say 'browes'. Super Mario Bros is quite a long title to say out loud (especially when you throw extra numbers and the word 'New' in there) so it makes sense for people to shorten it slightly. Just don't say 'bross'

The term "bro" is always used to mean male friend where I'm from, so I always said 'brothers' for Mario. Cos they're actual brothers.

I don't think it's a recent phenomenon, I've been saying it like that for as long as I can remember, and I know a lot of other people have as well. I don't think it's comparable to "Dr.", either. The word "bro" is already a popular slang word for "brothers", and the plural of that, "bros", is also used quite a bit. I don't think it's much of a surprise that people would see "bros." In the title and just end up saying "broes" as a shorthand. Maybe it has become more popular as the titles have gotten longer.

Yeah, brothers, bro's, it's all the same. I say brothers because I'm old-fashioned like that, but I'm not bothered by people saying bro's.

Also, the example of Dr./Doctor does not apply or compare, seeing as Dr. is an OFFICIAL abbreviation for the profession, whereas bros is obviously slang. A far better and more similar comparison would be VS, which as we know, stands for "versus", but is nowadays frequently abbreviated/bastardized into "verse".

Agree with above posts that both are acceptable, considering that "bro" is a slang term for brother, making it acceptable as an actual pronunciation.

Not sure which I would say actually...it's not something I've really thought about, and I probably switch between "Bros" and "Brothers" depending on context. But I will say that as a South Londoner who can't pronounce his "th"s properly, "Bros" is a lot easier...

The main point is that you're understood. I'm not a word authoritarian, (the N-word for burtal statist thugs is overused unless you're talking about 1930s-40s Germany) just a word noticer.

I just so happened to come across a video that pronounces it "Browes" right after a video of differences in pronunciation between US and UK English.

By the way, wouldn't the British people pronounce the abbreviation as "Bross"?

I was just wondering if some of these instances were computer readers reading the words with speech synthesis too literally. I just wanted to check if real humans pronounce it that was or whether they got that from web videos that might be auto-read.

I see enough people pronounce it that way where that's acceptable enough.

I understand Dr. is common enough in enough industries to make the verbal substitution.
I always thought the most respectful way to pronounce corporations' names and the works the produce is according to story canon and/or official advertising.

The original instruction booklet shows it in print as Bros but seems to be verbalized as Brothers on official radio and tv commercials.

I've never heard the words "Gaiden" and "Jaleco" pronounced in official radio and tv ads in the US. I always thought it was "GAYD-en" and "Gel-ee-co." Not "guy-DEN" and "JAHL-ec-oh". I've never heard those words pronounced in official radio/tv materials.

But I understand intentional mispronunciations for comedic effect. And I also understand shortening a word, where this would be that sort of sitch.