Bromide in literary usage means a phrase,
cliché
A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
, or
platitude that is
trite or unoriginal. It can be intended to soothe or placate; it can suggest insincerity or a lack of originality in the speaker.
Bromide can also mean a commonplace or tiresome person, a bore (a person who speaks in bromides).
Etymology
Various bromine salts or
bromides were discovered during the second half of the 19th century to have calming effects on the
central nervous system
The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...
. By the end of the century, they were widely used both for specific indications like
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...
,
convulsions, and
insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
, and even for "general nervousness".
Sodium bromide was used in remedies such as
Bromo-Seltzer that were popular for headaches and
hangovers, in part due to the sedative effects.
In April 1906, the American humorist
Gelett Burgess published an essay in ''
The Smart Set
''The Smart Set'' was an American literary magazine, founded by Colonel William d'Alton Mann and published from March 1900 to June 1930. Its headquarters was in New York City. During its Jazz Age heyday under the editorship of H. L. Mencken and ...
'' called "The Sulphitic Theory". In this essay, he used "bromide" to characterize a sedate, dull person who said boring things.
In the fall of 1906, he published a revised and enlarged essay in the form of a small book.
The book's full title was ''Are You a Bromide? Or, The Sulphitic Theory Expounded and Exemplified According to the Most Recent Researches Into the Psychology of Boredom: Including Many Well-known Bromidioms Now in Use''. In these works he labeled a dull person as a "Bromide" contrasted with a "Sulphite" who was the opposite. Bromides meant either the boring person himself or the boring statement of that person, with Burgess providing many examples.
This usage persisted through the 20th century into the 21st century. Some well known quotes (or bromides) in current usage that appeared in Burgess' ''Are You a Bromide?'' include:
* "I don't know much about Art, but I know what I like."
* "... she doesn't look a day over fifty."
* "You'll feel differently about these things when you're married."
* "It isn't so much the heat... as the humidity...."
* "You're a sight for sore eyes."
See also
*
Cliché
A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
*
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech. Keith and Lundburg describe a trope as, "a substitution of a word or phrase by a less literal word or phrase." ...
*
Idiom
An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language ...
*1906 newspaper article:
References
{{reflist
Figures of speech