After years of Baby Boomers calling Gen Z and millennials “lazy”, “entitled” and “privileged”, they are now getting annoyed by the youth’s response of “Okay, Boomer”…
Who are these people?
If you don’t already know, here’s a quick cheat!
Baby Boomers: People born between 1946 to 1964
Gen X: People born between 1965 to 1976
Millennials (or Gen Y): People born between 1977 to 1995
Gen Z: People born between 1996 to 2010
You might think that these are pretty plain sub-groups of human beings- and you wouldn’t be wrong! But, of course, humans like to create divisions among themselves, especially where there have been differences in life experience and upbringing. This brings forth the phenomenon of the “generation gap”, which is the difference of opinions, attitude and/or thoughts between one generation and another. The main divide between these two groups in particular is language/slang and how baby boomers have a hard time understanding some of the things Gen Z/Millennials say.
Back to our main point…
What does “Okay, Boomer” even mean?
“Okay, Boomer” is often commented on social media were someone has said something condescending about the younger generations. This phrase works extremely well if you don’t have the time or energy to write an essay about why millennials are not some kale-and-avocado, starbucks-and-social-media addicts who do yoga, are rude to everyone for no reason and want a 7 figure-paying job without having to do the work.
It’s important to note that this isn’t said to kind people who haven’t said anything about the youth; rather, it is used just for comedic effect and to make those harsh, cruel comments sting a little less.
Where did “okay boomer” even start?
Although it’s hard to tell where the phrase came from, most people would say “Okay boomer” first was introduced when an old man on TikTok (a social media app which lets users film 3 to 60 seconds often with music) said, “Millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome. They don’t ever want to grow up; they think that the Utopian ideals that they have had in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood” and many responded with “okay boomer” to make fun of him. But there also happens to be a meme account on instagram called “bones3.0” who posted posts using “okay boomer” dating back to the 24th of December, 2018. The phrase gained more popularity and started to be used more around November of this year, where people started posting articles about it.
“Okay boomer” Merch
Now you may wonder, how far has this gone? Well, right now, “okay boomer” shirts and hoodies are being sold. Shannon O’Connor had made a shirt saying “okay boomer” written in a way memetic to the ‘thank you’ style of a shopping bag with the tagline saying “have a terrible day”. She sold the shirts on Bonfire and got more than $10,000 in orders after she promoted it on TikTok.
Well, my final thoughts on this phrase is… yes, it is fun to use, especially on rude people- but we shouldn’t use it on the elderly (or anyone in general) who haven’t done anything to elicit that response. While it is an amusing new slang term, it only contributes to creating a divide between us and our elders, and as we know, division has hardly ever ended nicely, as shown by history. As time goes by, internet trends will only become all the more viral (and guiltily funny)- but we tend to forget that with the sly passing of time, leaving a good digital footprint only becomes all the more important. Remember: it isn’t just about the mark you leave; it’s about what that mark says about you. As NES students, we are meant to be kind, compassionate and respectful global citizens- regardless of our surroundings or what’s “trending”. It’s alright to have a giggle at the latest ‘meme’- so long as you’re sure that it’s not contradicting what you know deep down is right.
“Have A Terrible Day”
