What it means
برو بابا (boro bâbâ) combines the Persian imperative برو (boro), meaning ‘go’, with بابا (bâbâ), a word for ‘father’ or ‘old man’ that also works as a general address to a man. بابا is a nursery word found natively in Persian, as in many languages, rooted in infant babble the same way ‘papa’ and ‘mama’ are in English. Together the phrase means something like ‘go on, man’ and is used to express dismissal, disbelief, or light-hearted mockery. It can mean ‘yeah right’, ‘no way’, ‘oh come on’, or simply ‘stop it’ depending on tone. A close synonym is بیخود (bi-khod), meaning ‘for nothing’ or ‘nonsense’, but برو بابا carries more color and energy. The phrase is not rude when used between equals, though tone matters.
How to use it
- برو بابا، این که دروغه. (boro bâbâ, in ke doruqe.) “Oh come on, that’s a lie.”
- برو بابا، مگه میشه؟ (boro bâbâ, mage mishe?) “Get out of here, is that even possible?”
- برو بابا، خستهام کردی. (boro bâbâ, khaste-am kardi.) “Oh stop it, you’ve worn me out.”
- برو بابا، جدی نیستی؟ (boro bâbâ, jeddi nisti?) “Come on, are you serious?”
Cultural note
برو بابا is one of those phrases that shows up constantly in Iranian comedy, TV series, and everyday conversation because it captures a very Persian attitude: the ability to brush something off with warmth rather than hostility. The word بابا here is not literally calling someone ‘dad.’ It is a softening address that makes the dismissal feel almost affectionate rather than cutting. The phrase appears in pre-revolution Iranian cinema and has remained unchanged in both Iran and the diaspora, which is relatively rare for slang.