A bromide is a figure of speech referring to a phrase or person who uses such phrases that has been used and repeated so many times as to become either insincere in its meaning, or seem like an attempt at trying to explain the obvious. It can also mean the unnecessary insertion of an (often irrelevant) cliché into a conversation, designed to make the speaker sound more authoritative.
The term derives from the former use of certain bromide salts (sodium bromide and potassium bromide) in medicine as mild tranquilizers and sedatives. Administration of a "Bromide" would make the patient drowsy and generally in a state more conducive to sleep, rather than actually inducing sleep directly as would a stronger drug such as chloral hydrate. The literary usage of "Bromide" is meant to humorously imply a boring statement with similarly soporific properties.
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