Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['bro-mId]
Definition: (1) A compound with bromine plus another element; (2) a commonplace remark or notion, a platitude, cliché; (3) a tiresome person, a bore.
Usage: Although we no long resort to bromides (1), bromides (3) still have the same dulling, sleep-inducing effect, "Farnsworth is such an old bromide, I fall asleep just looking at him." The most common use of today's word, however, is in the second sense: "If Kratzer uses that bromide, 'no pain, no gain,'（一分耕耘，一分收获） one more time, I'm going to give him a significant gain on the nose."
Suggested Usage: Bromides were such common sedatives in the 19th and early 20th centuries that a syndrome, bromism, was introduced to describe the effects of overdosing on them. Bromism resulted in depression, loss of memory, and slow mental processing. The adjective is "bromidic," as a bromidic phrase (= a cliché).
Etymology: Today's word is a stinky one, based on Greek brômos "a stink" + the scientific suffix –ide, a suffix widely used in chemistry to denote a compound based on the element referred to by the root. So "bromide" refers to a compound based on bromine, a dark red poisonous liquid with a strong, repulsive smell (whence its name). A very commonplace bromide in the 19th and early 20th century was potassium bromide, widely taken as a mild sedative before going to bed to induce sleep. From this usage, it is but a short skip to the sense of a commonplace remark that makes you yawn and from there to a person who puts you to sleep. (Today's word is brought to you by Dr. Richard R. Everson, Phyllis Stabler, and Eric Thornton of Exton, Pennsylvania, who have justifiably lobbied for its inclusion in our series for some months, now.)
bromide \BROH-myd\, noun:1. A compound of bromine and another element or a positive organic radical.2. A dose of potassium bromide taken as a sedative.3. A dull person with conventional thoughts.4. A commonplace or conventional saying.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. The words are in fact already a bromide when the pompous Malvolio finds and reads them.-- Marjorie Garber, Symptoms of Culture
He cannot resist the occasional bromide: "Ninety percent of diplomacy is a question of who blinks first."-- Gary J. Bass, "The Negotiator", New York Times, July 11, 1999
The next president could live up to that old political bromide "Let's run the government like a business" by staffing his cabinet with some leading figures from the new world of business.-- Daniel H. Pink, "Fast.Gov", Fast Company, October-2000
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