Why 'OK boomer' may be our best chance to bridge the inter-generational divide
Back in 1963, when the term “baby-boomer” was first published in a Salt Lake Tribune article, it carried just one definition: a person born during the tail end or in the decade after World War II, when the United States saw a tremendous spike in births. Frequently shortened to “boomer,” over the years the phrase has been imbued with layers of meaning and implication. Much like “millennial,” “boomer” doesn’t merely indicate a person born in a given time or place, it’s a blanket term referencing the predominant trends, values and concerns of an entire generation.
“Boomer” is also, evidently, an insult to an older person, who may or may not technically be a baby boomer. The development of the word as a pejorative is a pretty recent phenomenon, best exemplified by “OK boomer” — a phrase that has gained heavy traction on the social video app TikTok, among other internet platforms. Much like the poorly aged ‘90s slang “talk to the hand,” “OK boomer” is a derisive repudiation, a bit mocking in tone, like a verbal eye roll — and it’s directed specifically by a young person toward someone older.
If you’ve spent much time on Twitter lately, you’ve probably observed ample activity around #OKBoomer and #boomer. In a now-deleted tweet, radio host Bob Lonsberry conjured a storm of controversy when he likened “boomer” to the N-word, claiming that it was an ageist slur — an allegation that John Kelly, senior research editor at Dictionary.com expertly negates.
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What ‘OK boomer’ reveals about the divide between Singapore millennials and their elders
When it comes to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer) issues, a 22-year-old lamented how she and her mother could never see eye-to-eye.
The fresh graduate, who wanted to be known only as Ms Teo, said: “My mother doesn’t understand homosexuality at all. I’ve tried explaining to her over 500 times about 377A (the law that criminalises sex between men) and why I go to (LGBTQ rally) PinkDot, but she still doesn’t understand.”
While her mother conceded that she would try to be more accepting if one of her three daughters were gay, she still admitted to Ms Teo that she would not promote her colleague because she is lesbian.
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What Millennials and Baby Boomers Really Think About Each Other
Who are millennials and what do they want? And what's the deal with baby boomers? Meeting face to face, two generations confess their assumptions about each other's interests and motivations. What's true and what's not?
Regardless of Generation, hosted by Janil Puthucheary, defines millennials as those aged 19 to 36 years old. They make up 21% of Singapore’s population and most are digitally connected. A study of 1,200 Singaporeans, revealed that many feel millennials are impatient.
Why? Maybe because of a climate of instant gratification. "I want something? Foodpanda. I want a Grab? I don't even have to stand by the side of the road," says Ee Chiou Huey, a content creator from SGAG.
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Millennials vs Seniors
Is this what a generation gap means? Benjamin Kheng from The Sam Willows and YouTube influencer Munah Bagharib sit down with Singapore's former Attorney-General Walter Woon and Ambassador-At-Large Chan Heng Chee to watch a few videos - and discover their differences in views on several topics.
Here's what they have to say on work-life balance, that Michelle Chong and K Shanmugam video, freedom of speech and the Singapore-Malaysia water issue.
Hosted by Janil Puthucheary, Regardless of Generation examines the widening gap between the young and old. Face to face interviews with 1,200 Singaporeans showed that 3 generations differed most in their views on foreign talent and LGBTQ issues.
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How Singapore sees its millennials (and it's not a pretty picture)
Young people at a climate change rally in Singapore
They get their fair share of criticisms from the older generation, and now, a nationwide survey has found out what Singaporeans really think of millennials.
Impatient, overconfident and materialistic — these are among the top perceptions of those aged 19 to 36 years old. This demographic ranked the lowest — versus Generation X and the pre-independence generation — for being disciplined, loyal and taking ownership of work. Being cautious or hardworking are not seen to be millennial traits either.
The stereotypes Jade Rasif hears most often are: Millennials are “entitled”, “lazy” and lack respect for traditional institutions of power. There is “some truth” there, she admitted.
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Let's talk about the generation faultline
Communication across the generational gap can seem like a lost cause, but we have to try
I am a millennial. And if the headlines are to be believed, that means that I am a lazy, entitled, avocado-gobbling narcissist who is completely dependent on social media.
Hardly a day goes by without something about the "evils of my generation" turning up on my newsfeed, and these stereotypes have become so commonplace that we've become almost numb to it. Sure, shrugging and swiping the news item away is preferable to getting into a comment war with a Gen X-er determined on comparing you to a strawberry, but there has to be a better way to communicate with the older generation.
So here's an idea. Let's talk. And I mean really talk. Let's have good, solid conversations where we listen and understand each other first, and then react.
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It's not okay to say 'OK boomer'
Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick speaking in New Zealand parliament (Screengrab: Facebook Chloe Swarbrick)
The phrase “OK boomer” has become a catch-all put-down that Generation Zers and young millennials have been using to dismiss retrograde arguments made by baby boomers, the generation who are currently 55 to 73 years old.
Though it originated online and primarily is fueling memes, Twitter feuds and a flurry of commentary, it has begun migrating to real life. Earlier this month, a New Zealand lawmaker lobbed the insult at an older legislator who had dismissed her argument about climate change.
As the term enters our everyday vocabulary, HR professionals and employment law specialists like me now face the age-old question: What happens if people start saying “OK boomer” at work? But frequent comments about someone’s age – for example, calling a colleague “old” and “slow”, “old fart” or even “pops” – can become harassment over time.
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Teens use 'OK boomer' to fire back at older generations' criticisms
Teens have seized on two words to push back against adults who annoy them and closed-minded friends: "OK boomer."
In recent months, the phrase “OK boomer” has become a common retort in the parts of the internet inhabited by teenage and young adult users. On Instagram, the phrase appears as a hashtag alongside memes and artwork mocking the older generation. On Twitter, the phrase is hurled at someone for making an outdated statement. And on TikTok, where it is arguably the most prolific, it appears in artwork, audios and makeup tutorials as a way to mock an older generation, and the hashtag has been viewed on the platform 18 million times.
“I think a big part of why it has caught on is just, like, baby boomers and older people in general love to complain about younger people on the whole,” said Sam Harman, 17, who took part in the “OK boomer” picture. “They’ll call anyone younger than them ‘millennials,’ and doing the same thing to older people by calling them ‘boomers’ is kind of a push back to that.”
The phrase is a culmination of annoyance and frustration at a generation young people perceive to be worsening issues like climate change, political polarization and economic hardship. The 10 teens and young adults who spoke to NBC News about the phrase said “OK boomer” marked a boiling point for Gen Z and younger millennials, who feel pushed around or condescended to by older generations. The phrase is even being used to sell sweatshirts.
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OK Boomer
"OK Boomer" is a catchphrase and internet meme that gained popularity among younger cohorts throughout 2019, used to dismiss or mock attitudes stereotypically attributed to the baby boomer generation. It is considered by some to be ageist.
"OK Boomer" was popularized as a reaction to a video of an unidentified older man, in which he declared that "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 in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood". The video inspired the phrase "OK Boomer" as a retaliation and dismissal of the ideals of past generations that have shaped politics, economics and the environment so strongly. The first recorded instance of the phrase "OK boomer" appeared in a Reddit comment on 29 January 2009, 10 years before popular usage.
The term's recent usage can be traced back to 2015 on 4chan, but started to become popular from January 2019.[4] The term gained media popularity in early November 2019 when articles about the phrase were published.
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OK BOOMER
What does OK boomer mean?
OK boomer is a viral internet slang phrase used, often in a humorous or ironic manner, to call out or dismiss out-of-touch or close-minded opinions associated with the baby boomer generation and older people more generally.
What does baby boomers mean?
The baby boomers are the generation born between the early 1940s to the early 1960s
What does millennials mean?
The millennial years range from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. Millennials are people that were born at any time during this period.
What does Generation X mean?
The generation born between about 1966 and 1980.
What does Generation Y mean?
The generation born in the 1980s and 1990s.
What does Generation Z mean?
Generation Z is the name for the generation of children after the millennials, born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z Explained
What separates Generation Y from X, and is Generation Z a thing? How old is each generation? Are they really that different? It’s easy to see why there is so much confusion about generational cohorts
If you’ve ever felt muddled by this "alphabet soup" of names…you’re not alone. The real frustration hits when you realize that Gen Y consumers will earn 46% of income in the U.S. by 2025.1 And unless you understand who they are and what they want, you won’t capture a dollar of their money. Furthermore, as one generation’s spending power decreases (i.e. Boomers) another is increasing.
A common source of confusion when labeling generations is their age. Generational cohorts are defined (loosely) by birth year, not current age. The reason is simple, generations get older in groups. If you think of all Millennials as college kids (18 - 22), then you are thinking of a stage in life and not a generation. Millennials are out of college and that life stage is now dominated by Gen Z.
Another example, a member of Generation X who turned 18 in 1998 would now be nearly 40. In that time, he or she cares about vastly different issues and is receptive to a new set of marketing messages. Regardless of your age, you will always belong to the generation you were born into.
read more
Stop talking about the millennials already
A few weeks ago, a middle-aged friend joked to some office colleagues that he found millennials frustrating to handle — “until you have to convert a PDF file into a word document”.
An actual millennial — normally defined as someone born between the early 1980s and 1996 — was furious. “I could do without the ageist jokes,” she wrote in an email. “In 10 years, [people] will see this as the equivalent as saying everyone hates blacks — until they need a basketball player.”
The row escalated. “This is the most entitled nonsense I have ever received from a colleague,” my middle-aged friend replied. “You should probably be more leery about calling a millennial’s feedback entitled nonsense,” the millennial retorted. It took some time until a sense of humour was restored.
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Our glorious strawberry generation
Millennials (1980s-2000s), also known as Generation Y, are often branded as the strawberry generation. Easily bruised like strawberries, we are stereotyped to be unable to withstand social pressure, or work hard like earlier generations. We are negatively perceived to be selfish, spoiled, and lazy at work.
After all, we were born in an era of economic prosperity, and grew up being overprotected by our parents for a huge chunk of our lives. It is understandable that a few rotten apples could tarnish our generation, but who is to say that the older generations do not have their own generic inadequacies?
In our defense, every generation is deemed to be selfish and misunderstood by the older generations. So if the older generations - Generation X (1960s-1980s) and the Baby Boomers (1946-1964) think that we are humanity's worst lot, then they are terribly wrong.
read more
Gen Y Speaks: I just started working. This is why 25% of my pay goes to my dad
“What did you do with your first pay?” Many of my friends have asked me since I started my first full-time job a few months back after completing my full-time National Service.
I did not splurge on any expensive toys or gadgets. Instead, I decided to set aside about a quarter of my take-home pay to pay back a S$5,000 loan I had taken from my father’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) account for my diploma course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
So why did I choose to prioritise paying off the loan with a 12-month instalment plan? First, it makes sense financially to pare down the debt as soon as possible to save on the interest cost. The longer I take to pay off the loan, the higher the amount of interest I will have to pay.
read more
As the Boomers ride into the sunset, will the Millennials now say: OK PAP (note: not a complimentary phrase)?
We are about to enter a new year. Amid all the political, social, economic and climate changes, we may also be marking the beginning of the end of a very special era in modern history. Baby boomers are about to ride off into the sunset, or possibly pushed along the way by an inter-generational war. In an exasperated retort to what they think are the boomers’ increasingly irrelevance, millennials have created a new catchphrase. “OK Boomer” is the phrase of 2019. It’s short form for: “OK, whatever you say, uncle, you are history, we are the future and have to pick up the pieces of your condescension, arrogance, inaction and short sightedness”.
Baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1965) are the products of the biggest population boom in human history, hence their name. After the Second World War, as peace reigned following the upheaval, it was as if everyone was in a hurry to procreate, to make up for lost time. In the US alone, 76 million Americans were born between 1946 and 1964, a significant bulge in the population. And these boomers reaped the rewards of a world-wide reconstruction effort in an era of peace underpinned by the emergence of a relatively benign superpower. The impact could be felt around the world.
Apart from the economic surge, which saw even defeated Axis powers like Japan and Germany recover spectacularly, the boomers’ cultural influence was even more impressive. We may never again see such a burst of talents (broadly speaking, since some of the personalities mentioned are strictly outside the definition but only by a few years). In music, there were the giants like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Orbison. Film makers from Steven Spielberg to Martin Scorsese and actors such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons, Ian McKellan are or were essentially boomers. Sports icons from Muhamad Ali to Billie Jean King wielded power because of their sporting excellence as well as their views on issues.
read more
Teens use 'OK boomer' to fire back at older generations' criticisms
In recent months, the phrase “OK boomer” has become a common retort in the parts of the internet inhabited by teenage and young adult users. On Instagram, the phrase appears as a hashtag alongside memes and artwork mocking the older generation. On Twitter, the phrase is hurled at someone for making an outdated statement. And on TikTok, where it is arguably the most prolific, it appears in artwork, audios and makeup tutorials as a way to mock an older generation, and the hashtag has been viewed on the platform 18 million times.
“I think a big part of why it has caught on is just, like, baby boomers and older people in general love to complain about younger people on the whole,” said Sam Harman, 17, who took part in the “OK boomer” picture. “They’ll call anyone younger than them ‘millennials,’ and doing the same thing to older people by calling them ‘boomers’ is kind of a push back to that.”
The phrase is a culmination of annoyance and frustration at a generation young people perceive to be worsening issues like climate change, political polarization and economic hardship. The 10 teens and young adults who spoke to NBC News about the phrase said “OK boomer” marked a boiling point for Gen Z and younger millennials, who feel pushed around or condescended to by older generations. The phrase is even being used to sell sweatshirts.
read more
OK Boomer
"OK Boomer" is a catchphrase and internet meme that gained popularity among younger cohorts throughout 2019, used to dismiss or mock attitudes stereotypically attributed to the baby boomer generation. It is considered by some to be ageist.
"OK Boomer" was popularized as a reaction to a video of an unidentified older man, in which he declared that "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 in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood". The video inspired the phrase "OK Boomer" as a retaliation and dismissal of the ideals of past generations that have shaped politics, economics and the environment so strongly. The first recorded instance of the phrase "OK boomer" appeared in a Reddit comment on 29 January 2009, 10 years before popular usage.
The term's recent usage can be traced back to 2015 on 4chan, but started to become popular from January 2019.[4] The term gained media popularity in early November 2019 when articles about the phrase were published.
read more
OK BOOMER
What does OK boomer mean?
OK boomer is a viral internet slang phrase used, often in a humorous or ironic manner, to call out or dismiss out-of-touch or close-minded opinions associated with the baby boomer generation and older people more generally.
What does baby boomers mean?
The baby boomers are the generation born between the early 1940s to the early 1960s
What does millennials mean?
The millennial years range from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. Millennials are people that were born at any time during this period.
What does Generation X mean?
The generation born between about 1966 and 1980.
What does Generation Y mean?
The generation born in the 1980s and 1990s.
What does Generation Z mean?
Generation Z is the name for the generation of children after the millennials, born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
read more
Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z Explained
If you’ve ever felt muddled by this "alphabet soup" of names…you’re not alone. The real frustration hits when you realize that Gen Y consumers will earn 46% of income in the U.S. by 2025.1 And unless you understand who they are and what they want, you won’t capture a dollar of their money. Furthermore, as one generation’s spending power decreases (i.e. Boomers) another is increasing.
A common source of confusion when labeling generations is their age. Generational cohorts are defined (loosely) by birth year, not current age. The reason is simple, generations get older in groups. If you think of all Millennials as college kids (18 - 22), then you are thinking of a stage in life and not a generation. Millennials are out of college and that life stage is now dominated by Gen Z.
Another example, a member of Generation X who turned 18 in 1998 would now be nearly 40. In that time, he or she cares about vastly different issues and is receptive to a new set of marketing messages. Regardless of your age, you will always belong to the generation you were born into.
read more
Stop talking about the millennials already
Those born after 1995 are labelled “centennials” or “Generation Z”. (Photo: Unsplash / Timothy Choy)
A few weeks ago, a middle-aged friend joked to some office colleagues that he found millennials frustrating to handle — “until you have to convert a PDF file into a word document”.
An actual millennial — normally defined as someone born between the early 1980s and 1996 — was furious. “I could do without the ageist jokes,” she wrote in an email. “In 10 years, [people] will see this as the equivalent as saying everyone hates blacks — until they need a basketball player.”
The row escalated. “This is the most entitled nonsense I have ever received from a colleague,” my middle-aged friend replied. “You should probably be more leery about calling a millennial’s feedback entitled nonsense,” the millennial retorted. It took some time until a sense of humour was restored.
read more
Our glorious strawberry generation
WE MILLENNIALS HAVE OUR STRONG POINTS TOO PHOTO CREDIT
Millennials (1980s-2000s), also known as Generation Y, are often branded as the strawberry generation. Easily bruised like strawberries, we are stereotyped to be unable to withstand social pressure, or work hard like earlier generations. We are negatively perceived to be selfish, spoiled, and lazy at work.
After all, we were born in an era of economic prosperity, and grew up being overprotected by our parents for a huge chunk of our lives. It is understandable that a few rotten apples could tarnish our generation, but who is to say that the older generations do not have their own generic inadequacies?
In our defense, every generation is deemed to be selfish and misunderstood by the older generations. So if the older generations - Generation X (1960s-1980s) and the Baby Boomers (1946-1964) think that we are humanity's worst lot, then they are terribly wrong.
read more
Gen Y Speaks: I just started working. This is why 25% of my pay goes to my dad
The author with his parents at his Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduation ceremony in 2017
“What did you do with your first pay?” Many of my friends have asked me since I started my first full-time job a few months back after completing my full-time National Service.
I did not splurge on any expensive toys or gadgets. Instead, I decided to set aside about a quarter of my take-home pay to pay back a S$5,000 loan I had taken from my father’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) account for my diploma course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
So why did I choose to prioritise paying off the loan with a 12-month instalment plan? First, it makes sense financially to pare down the debt as soon as possible to save on the interest cost. The longer I take to pay off the loan, the higher the amount of interest I will have to pay.
read more
As the Boomers ride into the sunset, will the Millennials now say: OK PAP (note: not a complimentary phrase)?
We are about to enter a new year. Amid all the political, social, economic and climate changes, we may also be marking the beginning of the end of a very special era in modern history. Baby boomers are about to ride off into the sunset, or possibly pushed along the way by an inter-generational war. In an exasperated retort to what they think are the boomers’ increasingly irrelevance, millennials have created a new catchphrase. “OK Boomer” is the phrase of 2019. It’s short form for: “OK, whatever you say, uncle, you are history, we are the future and have to pick up the pieces of your condescension, arrogance, inaction and short sightedness”.
Baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1965) are the products of the biggest population boom in human history, hence their name. After the Second World War, as peace reigned following the upheaval, it was as if everyone was in a hurry to procreate, to make up for lost time. In the US alone, 76 million Americans were born between 1946 and 1964, a significant bulge in the population. And these boomers reaped the rewards of a world-wide reconstruction effort in an era of peace underpinned by the emergence of a relatively benign superpower. The impact could be felt around the world.
Apart from the economic surge, which saw even defeated Axis powers like Japan and Germany recover spectacularly, the boomers’ cultural influence was even more impressive. We may never again see such a burst of talents (broadly speaking, since some of the personalities mentioned are strictly outside the definition but only by a few years). In music, there were the giants like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Orbison. Film makers from Steven Spielberg to Martin Scorsese and actors such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons, Ian McKellan are or were essentially boomers. Sports icons from Muhamad Ali to Billie Jean King wielded power because of their sporting excellence as well as their views on issues.
read more
