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Original poster

Ok, Boomer

207 replies

chomalungma · 23/11/2019 23:06

I have had to repeatedly tell DS that I am not a boomer. His Grandad is though.

I am with him though. He went through a whole litany of the issues facing his generation and what the older generation have benefited from.

He seems to have got some of the memes from 'Insta'.

Anyone else got a child who uses this phrase?

OP posts:
IvinghoeBeacon · 24/11/2019 07:05

I think “ok millennial” is probably the equivalent level of accuracy/insulting

damnthatanxiety · 24/11/2019 07:34

Clymene
You don't know what a boomer is, do you.

SpiderCharlotte · 24/11/2019 07:38

I actually heard someone say this to someone else in a cafe a couple of weeks ago and didn't know what it meant at he time.

The response from the 'boomer' was 'Ah I see, you're unable to counter with anything relevant, fair enough' (or similar I can't remember exactly). I didn't know what either of them were on about at the time. 😊

WendyMoiraAngelaDarling · 24/11/2019 07:48

Ok, boomer came from meme culture. The entire point is that it's irreverent, challenging and provocative

Or just rude and dismissive and used by not particularly bright youngsters who can't be bothered to respond intelligently.

"Shut up because you're old so no one gives a shit what you think" is what it really means isn't it?

Lepetitpiggy · 24/11/2019 07:52

Dh and I are probably 'boomers' - I was born in 1964, him a few years earlier. Are we?
I'm certainly not a tory voting, 'in my day' spouting, leave campaigning mutterer. in fact I'm probably poorer and more left wing than a huge amount of younger people I know!

MarieFromStTropez · 24/11/2019 07:53

"Shut up because you're old so no one gives a shit what you think" is what it really means isn't it?

No, not at all. It actually means that the Boomer generation had it so good that following generations are now suffering because of them.

MarshaBradyo · 24/11/2019 07:54

I’ve only heard it referenced on here but think it’s rude and dismissive. The way anyone saying I don’t want you to speak is.

MarshaBradyo · 24/11/2019 07:54

On a par with snowflake which appears for the other end.

TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead · 24/11/2019 08:02

It is the teenage comeback for "snowflake"

It is quite funny how outraged Gen X are at being called "boomer"

My teens have used it, as a joke

It actually did make me laugh.

Lots of you are taking it way too seriously. It is a joke, a meme, not a declaration of intergenerational war!

fruityconfusedhotdog · 24/11/2019 08:03

@Lepetitpiggy You're just on the cusp, I think. Gen X is generally held to start from 1965...

leckford · 24/11/2019 08:03

I tell them to go and get a job not sit at home whining. My husband started work at 12 and worked his way up.

WendyMoiraAngelaDarling · 24/11/2019 08:03

No, not at all. It actually means that the Boomer generation had it so good that following generations are now suffering because of them

I know what "Boomer" means thanks, but it's isn't being used to mean that on social media. On SM it is used by young people to discount any comment an older person makes about pretty much anything really. Do you honestly think the average 17 year old is using it with that meaning behind it? They use it to imply the comment is out of touch because the person commenting is old and clueless and has no right to an opinion.

I do agree it's on a par with "snowflake" which I also despise.

TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead · 24/11/2019 08:08

It is not used to discount ANY comment

It is mainly used to counter " in my day, we had no Internet and played all day with a stick" or "when I was young, we respected our elders " type statements.

ClaraThePigeon · 24/11/2019 08:14

It's far from lighthearted in my experience. It's often used very aggressively and dismissively on social media . It's becoming all too acceptable to despise people, dismiss their views and treat them as a homogenous mass simply because they're not young, or they dare to have a different opinion. I'm tired of sound bites like boomer or the T word being used to shut down debate.

Snowflake isn't ok either and I have no sympathy for older people talking nonsense about current generations either but I see far from hate from Millennials(And I am one) towards Boomers than vice versa.

ClaraThePigeon · 24/11/2019 08:15

It is not used to discount ANY comment

It very much is. It's rife on Tumblr and Reddit.

Patroclus · 24/11/2019 08:15

I really dont blame younng people. They've had shit thrown at them for years about 'millenials' (usually used wrongly). Maybe us oldies should STFU for once and think about why we have iled to give those after us the basics we had.

Obama isnt a boomer, and please dont make the same mistake as Piers pissing Morgan, he also isnt some hero to young people or anybody left of Tony Blair.

WendyMoiraAngelaDarling · 24/11/2019 08:18

It is not used to discount ANY comment

It is mainly used to counter " in my day, we had no Internet and played all day with a stick" or "when I was young, we respected our elders" type statements

It isn't though. You do get that millions of other people see and hear things on SM and indeed in real life that you might not don't you?

Patroclus · 24/11/2019 08:18

You know you cant use your Husband's work history as you own, leckford, and that most people get a job around 13?

WendyMoiraAngelaDarling · 24/11/2019 08:21

It very much is. It's rife on Tumblr and Reddit

Twitter too. I saw it about 10 times in the space of couple of minutes yesterday on my weekly foray into twitter.

ClaraThePigeon · 24/11/2019 08:21

The Millennial thing is recent too. I'm an older Millennial and in my teens and 20s I never once heard the term or gave what generation I was in a moment's thought. It's really only the past few years that it's grown wings.

dudsville · 24/11/2019 08:23

I feel sympathy for the ones coming up now. I keep respectfully quiet around colleagues when I think of paying off my mortgage and planning for early retirement. I didn't have help, but I got my foot on the property ladder in the 90s. That war life changing.

SpiderCharlotte · 24/11/2019 08:24

It is not used to discount ANY comment

Oh I think it is now. I don't believe it started that way, I think it started off being very light-hearted, but as often happens with these things, no longer appears to be.

I'm not a boomer btw, I just hate the whole attempt to shut someone down rather than have a reasonable conversation. I include 'snowflake' in that too. It's just not necessary.

Biancadelrioisback · 24/11/2019 08:26

Tbf, I can't feel too mad at people using "okay, boomer" due to the shit I had (and still have to take) to take as a millennial. Spent most of my teens and 20s being completely with my opinions and views being completely disregarded and referred to as a snowflake for being upset about it.

ClaraThePigeon · 24/11/2019 08:28

Maybe us oldies should STFU for once and think about why we have iled to give those after us the basics we had.

Maybe the Millennials should STFU and think about the rights they have that many Boomers especially women, fought for, and maybe they should wonder what fuck ups they're going to be criticised for in the future. I mean many Millennials seem only too happy to throw women under a bus right now. Not just Millennials but in some respects they're leading the charge.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 24/11/2019 08:32

I'm a millennial and I hate "OK boomer." Just seems really immature to me, like a last resort when people can't think of another comeback.