The other day, a 17-year-old mocked me for my analogue watch. Apparently it was ‘old school’.
And in this way, we millennials were quickly banished to the back of the shelf, along with grumpy baby boomers calling us snowflakes.
As we get closer to entering 2020, we make the sobering realisation that the first of the 90s kids will be turning 30.
Yikes, we’re old. And nothing makes us feel older than when the young ‘uns brush us in with the baby boomers and Gen Xers.
Generation Z has been doing that with one cutting phrase: ‘ok boomer’.
Judging by the words, you’d think the dig is reserved to the generations preceding millennials but these youngsters have been conflating us all.
Anything that’s deemed condescending or opposed to their beliefs might be met with the retort ‘ok boomer’, usually reserved for anyone over 30.
‘We’re not that old’ you might protest. But when you consider that the oldest millennial is 38 (the youngest 23), it does seem pretty old to a 17-year-old born in 2006.
But no one (aged 30+) is above facing the retort. Even Barack Obama was trolled with the very phrase while advising youngsters against cancel culture.
ok boomer https://t.co/50rS7hSbYu
— huwussein kesvani (@HKesvani) October 30, 2019
The age range for baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, Gen Z
Baby Boomers are born between 1946 and 1964 and are called so because after WWII there was a huge surge in the birth rate
Generation X includes anyone born between 1965 and 1980.
Millennials are those who are born between 1981 and 2000.
Generation Z is anyone born after 2000.
As with most things enjoyed by these digital natives, the phrase was conceived on the internet. It’s been scribbled in notebooks, pumpkins and high school pictures in America.
The popularity endures as it seems to be Generation Z’s go-to retort to dismiss older people who don’t understand their passions, whether it’s climate change, mental health or Peppa Pig.
‘Ok boomer’ is most prolific on video-sharing app Tik-Tok where it’s enjoyed in artworks, audios, and makeup tutorials.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3nuUDeD5PH/?igshid=yz027vaaqrtn
One teenager who’s designed merchandise (the last stage of the meme cycle) told the New York Times what the words mean.
‘The older generations grew up with a certain mindset, and we have a different perspective,’ said Shannon O’Connor, 19.
‘A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond “Ok, boomer”.
‘It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.’
With young people becoming more and more involved in social affairs on topics such as global warming and the political landscape, it might be a good time to start listening to their criticisms of the status quo.
Lest we be grouped with baby boomers (sorry not sorry).
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/30/why-do-young-people-keep-saying-ok-boomer-11009780/
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