“Ok Boomer” is a catchphrase used by millennials and Generation Z (people born between 1985 – 1999) for when older generations like boomers appear dismissive of certain issues. Last week an MP in New Zealand won over the internet with her calm response to being heckled over her age during a climate change discussion. Do you think Ok boomer is ageist? Do you find it insulting or is there always a generational divide?
Posted by on 11 Nov 2019
I'm 28 and I've never called anyone that, neither have I ever heard it before. I was always taught to respect your elders by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am". The term may be regarded as disrespectful, others may not care, it just depends. Stick with Sir or Ma'am just to be safe and polite.
No. Harden up.
Yes it is. My mum was a solo parent with two of us and worked her fingers to the bone providing for us. I worked school holidays in college and gave her a percentage of my weekly pay. When I met my husband we had three jobs each in order to save for our first home - a 2 bedroom own your own flat. No one gave us anything and we worked for everything. I didn’t get fees free for the first year I studied part time at university while working full time with two young primary school aged children
Why can’t people say what they mean to each other without being nasty, insulting, or aggressive...putting your thoughts and words forward without raising your voice and others just listening and accepting of others views!!!!
I incline to think a total lack of respect and extremely immature if the comment was reversed we the Boomers would be called racists, which really highlights there ignorance and arrogance in this already PC world of moral correctness
its an immature way of saying "lets agree to disagree" its ok to disagree and its ok to say that you disagree, i don't really think its a generational things as people within ones' own generation can also be dismissive of each other and you cannot always tell someone's age just by looking/speaking with them for a few minutes anyway
its more about the sterotypical "Boomer" mindset than someone's age. if someone is going to be willingly and arrogantly ignorant, it's only normal to be condescending back
Nope - 58 yrs old and proud of it. I'm part of the baby boomers.
NO
Nope
Couldn't give a toss,sticks and stones
There’s no need for it. Just another ‘trendy’ way to be disrespectful. Instead of creating new words disguised as insults get out there and help someone less fortunate VOLUNTARILY
Actually it’s a way of redirecting the negativity Boomers give millennials. Not an insult.
Sounds stupid so yes
I don't think so. I wouldn't be offended but I think the younger gens would be upset if we started calling them by their generation name. Why not think about being curtious instead and keeping everyone happy
naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
It's meaningless. Like trying to label anyone with anything based on simple measures such as age, place, race, education etc. Only the foolish would use such a phrase. There are people of any age that are wise beyond their years and did much in youth, and there are people who are childish and silly and achieve little over an entire lifetime. The appropriate response to someone trying to heckle with 'OK boomer' is 'OK fool'. Ditto 'OK *insert generation label here*'.
i like how you have explained this
I am 88 and I think that the word Boomer is not a bad word, It could mean anything.,Pass it over your head
"Ok Boomer" is just words, if you are offended then you must be quite thin skinned. Ignore the people who use the Ok Boomer phrase, some day those people will become adults themselves even if they don't act like it now.
hmmmm well that explains why my 15 year has been saying it to my Dad
I don't think so, it all depends on who is reading the comment big boomer Comment
nah, it's fun... every young generation disrespects their elders and I'd rather be subjected to this phrase than be told I'm so old I don't know what it feels like to be young!!
I have never heard the description referring to a senior citizen as a "Boomer'.. I have another description for a "boomer" not relevant here. But I guess it is expected to have a somewhat dismissive attitude to the older generation.
It's a cheap shot and a petty condescending smarmy pretending to be so dismissive but uninformed and rude!
Mo
It depends on the context. What concerns me more is that the attention being paid to different age brackets and how they have been branded is creating unnecessary divisiveness.
no I dont think its ageist
Yes it is
Without Boomers the precious little darlings wouldnt have all they demand. l may have been born in non-PC ( personal computers/political correctness) times but l have always been a bit of a greenie (mostly) and care about nature, the envionment, wars, drought but l worked hard as well. Lucky computers, mobile phones, trains, shopping centres, air-con, hospitals, centrelink etc appeared out of no-where. To borrow from a now (in)famous young miillenial know-it-all "How dare you". blame us when they want.demand more than we ever could have ever had.
Ok boomer.
I agree with you and have "liked" your post. The thing is ..... somewhere along the line the older generation started to want their kids to have things easier than what they did, and therefore started to spoil them, without realising it. I don't have kids, but I work with them. I'm 59 years old, when I was a kid I didn't even have a fan in my room, neither did others my age. I am old enough to have teenage grandkids. In my work with kids, every classroom has air-conditioning, most of them have phones etc. etc. Ask yourself who have given them these things and many other things .... it's the older generations .... us !! The kids didn't invent air con or mobile phones, they weren't born asking for, and expecting a lift to school, we gave it to them. At some stage we also frowned upon corporal punishment, (dealt out in a measured way, for punishment, and not given in anger). As a result of OUR actions, i.e. the adults, our collective children are disrespectful, selfish spoiled brats that can't hack a day without air-conditioning & don't know the meaning of the word NO. YES of course there are exceptions, some kids are wonderful. Lets not blame the kids for the predicament that we have gotten them into .... by accident, wanting a better life for them, we have spoiled them & let them dictate the rules.
No, there is very little that offends me, I choose not to let it. I chose to work long hours all my life, without the benefit of universal super; it was always believed that women would be covered by their husband's super, women didn't need superannuation (too bad for those who divorced or were never married). I am proud to be still alive when so many 'experts' declared I couldn't possibly survive!!!
No it does not offend me at all. Most Boomers have worked hard all their lives and are enjoying the spoils of their labours. Where as millenials believe the world owes them a living.
It is extremely insulting but what else would we expect from these generations of know-it-all Millenials. They disregard the fact that Boomers have worked for all they have, didn't bewail having to wait to achieve milestones like buying their first home or new car. What Boomers have was achieved over many years whilst Millenials want those same things all at once. Just so over their impertinence. Just like a 20 year old complaining about our rail service out in a regional area not suiting her preferred travel times. She doesn't seem to be able to comprehend that when you are in a town midway between two major cities, the timetable is set to suit the departure from those points, not somewhere in the middle. But like a lot of her kind it is all about ME.
Aren't there bigger issues in the world? For goodness sake everyone, lighten up and deal with the big issues happening instead of being so sensitive.
If that little comment offended anyone, they really need to harden up because honestly there are worse things to be called than “ok boomer”. laugh it off people.....
I thought I was a Skippy, Now I'm a BOOMER. ( Big Old Kangaroo.) He said "Such is Life". Rain on a Ducks back to me all this name calling. Have a great day Folks. The Rain will fall and the Sun will shine. And Tomorrow will be better than today, It's what we make it.
This saying has no effect whatsoever on how I think or express myself , what a stupid waste of time even by me to think about it !
I find it very insulting in most contexts of use - no respect given in majority of cases
I'm too old to get insulted by a silly word.
Would hsve to know context being used..i do find it dismissive and condescending...
yes i agree. if someone called me that i would just say whatever pixie dust and walk off. not worth the time and effort
But wouldn't you be doing exactly what you don't want the millenials to do to you? Engage with them, explain how everything they have comes from the hard work of generations before - and then tell them that one day they too will be 'old and wise' like us!!!
I am a Gen X and married to a boomer and he finds the term very insulting but then again he does not have much patience for anything and don't get me started on climate change which is something he clearly denies.
i also am gen x, have lived close to the land and climate change has been going on for as long as the earth has been in existance. Our impact is infinitesimal. Our impact is so small that one day of one single active volcano (just active not in full blown eruption) is equal to 10 years of the entire modern human race
Can be. Context is the qualifer.
No, it sounds like an innocent joke. Millennials work hard in jobs I couldn't handle and I respect them for it. Although they like crap music I've never found them to be deliberately insulting.
A Boomer is fully grown male kangaroo. I have never asked one if he was OK
Haha. Exactly what I was thinking.
Nope not insulting for me !
I'd be amused, because I am older than the boomers! Would not be insulted. Most younger people think they know more than all older people. They don't. That's okay.
I do not have any problem with any of the material you have presented to me.
i am not a boomer but none the less dont feel this is an insulting word or phrase. but everyone takes things differently. i dont get offended by much at all
I am not insulted by this remark the generation making these remarks have enough issues of there own to take care of and have a general disrespect for people older than themselves.
Don't find it insulting at all. It's a cue to check your privilege.
Doesn't bother me. All words can be used to harm, hurt, embarrass or show care, it all depends on the intonation. Obviously this was used in an insulting manner but the MP handled it well. Perhaps the other person will think better in future of how she conducts herself.
Don’t know about insulting but it just sounds stupid, not funny or clever. I’m a Millennial and I cringe when I hear it. They sound ridiculous.
I don't use terms like this. Personally I find it means the person has nothing more intelligent to say.
Only just recently heard this expression. I agree with senilesal. We did not get all the benefits that are offered now. No baby bonus, no maternity leave, women couldn’t get their own credit cards, interest rates were up to 18% at their highest. We have worked hard, saved and paid taxes, no dole payments for us even when in drought conditions on our far. We took responsibility for our actions and were generally respectful to our elders and others. Boomer is my daughter-in-law’s nickname, as she has a great happy laugh. Much prefer the word in that context.
Verbal. Bashing of boomers is wrong. We worked hard. Some of us. Did it tough and just got by we are not all property rich and have $$$ in the bank. So our houses were cheaper. Our interest rates were higher. We lived with in our means. We never had a I want it all now and then moaned when we couldn't pay our bills I have been married for over 40 years lived a modest life I went totally deaf in my mid 20s. With young children and babies my partner supported us. There was no subsidised day care or family supliment. We just made do with what we had getting a job in my 40s casual was hard I had no skills. But I tried hard now in in my 60s and a carer for my partner. Who has issued due to his military service now gets the aged pension. WWE would be better off if he had gone overseas he would get a vets pension I think the younger generation need to re adjust there wants and needs lists and join the real world and stop blaming the older generation for there poor life choices
Cool. I agree with this, full heartedly. But also don’t be so ignorant about the fact that some of the issues Gen Z is facing is caused by older generations. So to say it’s ‘their* poor life choices’ is quite rude and stubborn because, Gen Z didn’t invent plastic, or cause the hole in the ozone to increase, create oil spills, cause animals to be endangered (least not directly), proliferate racism, and all this among other issues. Gen Z might seem to have it easier, but there are a lot of issues that NOT JUST baby boomers, but also Gen X and millennials have left on us to resolve. The worst some people might have done you ask? Or to me is what you connoté through your tone, girls getting pregnant at a young age perhaps (even though teen pregnancies have gone down significantly since 2005 to 2015 from 17.5 to 11.4 births in every 1000 women). I’m only saying this all because your tone enunciated that these were some of the poor choices you’re referring Gen z to be part of.
senilesal - might I suggest your husband contacts the Department of Veterans Affairs? If he has issues related to his military service he may be entitled to Veterans Affairs benefits even though he didn't go overseas. Anyone who has done military service is now classed as a veteran.
No. it is just words!!! Ignore it and get on with life. PC is getting ridiculous with the thought police jumping on everything they hear!!!
Sticks and stone will break my bones but names will never heart me. Better word ever said. I'm with you GJ. Have a good Day .
There are many things in the world much more important than a slang term that may or may not upset someone. Get over it and move on.
It all depends on the context.. Australia is known for it use of slang language. Boomer is a slang word for a particular generation of people. It can be use in an affectionate matey manner or it can be a derogative insult.
yes insulting and yes hilarious
ok boomer is a put down & a generalisation about a group of people. it is disrespectful, unhelpful & bad manners. perhaps the word whippersnapper should be used in response
In my town if some one addressed me that way it would be, because they would be thoroughly confused. We have a well known local football referee with that as his nick name, Half the town would not know his given name but would know who you were talking about if you said Boomer.. Otherwise i couldn't care less.
‘Ok boomer’ is a mindset. The phrase is generally used on those of Gen X. So seemingly, you have Gen Z referring to Gen X as boomers; children and their parents. Not always literally, but thats how the generational gap is situated with the users and the ‘victim’ of the term. The term isn’t really used directly towards baby boomers, maybe in a few memes but not as an insult. It’s the same as saying ‘ugh millennials’ or ‘kids/youth these days’. What I mean on the idea of boomer as a mindset is that anyone can be a boomer, according to the slang term. That phrase connotes to acts that might be considered traditional values and concepts of being raised as or by a baby boomer, and being out of touch with current trends and/or issues. So, if you said something about how climate change doesn’t exist or is irrelevant, then it’s likely that a Gen Z would respond back ‘ok boomer’. Usually it’s a response used for when Gen Z are attacked because of small issues - boxed in to certain ideals. For example; what a person is wearing (ripped jeans, slut shaming, or saying a girl is being too sexual by showing her shoulders, stomach or too much leg - ok boomer), marching for equality, seeing a person with tattoos and/or piercings (being thought as unprofessional), killing dating culture, etc. HOWEVER, its literally just A MEME. All it is, is content to be laughed at. Not aimed directly at baby boomers but Gen X, used by Gen Z and some millennials. Don’t take it seriously. Have a laugh and move on. Ok boomer?
yes !
been called worst.
Never heard the phrase before
I had to google it as I have never heard of it, here is what I found: "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." I think it is unfair because no everyone in the same generation is like this, I can say even younger people could have closed minds. I am a so called boomer but I was and always have been open to change, and often cannot relate to my own age group, but I do get what it means now. I still think it could be insulting without knowing a person properly it is often just accusations without merit.
Name calling is a form of bullying so no I don’t think it’s ok if it has a nasty intent
No, who cares. Us Boomers call them Gen X or Y and other things.
I never heard it. I'm not a boomer. I'm not surprised. I'm an immigrant and looks to me that here, once you reach 30yo, you are automatically treated as mentally impaired. Sometimes it hurts but, mostly it feels like yeah right, whatever...
I am a (baby) boomer who has always trod lightly on the earth. You would have difficulty finding a millennial who has done more regarding pollution reduction, sustainability and climate change than I have. Why tar people with the same brush based on an age bracket? See people for who they are. It is lazy to use name calling to boost a fragile sense of self; rather, do something worth your own respect. I don't take "OK Boomer" as an insult but think it sad that anyone is being dismissed; everyone has something to offer and a different perspective can be enlightening. We all need to have more tolerance and respect for one another.
Why to believe personal. I think it is generally beliefs with younger generation.
Sounds silly to me, but whatever. Everybody is to sensitive these days. Not that I give a toss what I'm called. I suppose they will come up with something eventually for us gen x'ers and then my generation will have its turn to complain.
I'm a millennial (technically, though I don't really identify by generation) and I find it problematic. I hear it a lot from people who have essentially become so closed off to discussion about certain issues, especially when the rebuttal is from an older person, that they use it as an automatic shut-down. The implication is almost that the Baby-Boomers are solely responsible for every stuff up we're currently facing, which is rubbish. Furthermore, the Baby Boomers are currently being treated like they're the only older/aging population in existence. My grand-parents and their assets (which are meager) got caught up in some of the election nastiness targeted at self-funded retirees and yet they are not Boomers, they're post-war (I hate the term Silent Generation) and I listened to some pretty hateful stuff from my own generation during the election campaign and after it (all about the climate crisis and Baby Boomer's attitudes to it). So I feel like I've got a good handle on the tone of the whole thing and it ranges from dismissive to mocking to unkind and I don't think that (even if we disagree with each other) that is an appropriate tone to take to a whole generation of people (especially our elders).
No , it's not ok.
Who really cares we know who we are!! As a 1947 boomer we know how tough it was to live in the (so called) boomer life. Millennials and Generation Z are once again showing their ignorance and forgetting how easy it was for them to grow up during those years (1985 to 1999) because of Boomers!!
I really don’t see what the fuss is all about. Has PC really gone that far as to deny the year/generation one was born in?
Sure they can refer to us as that..... As long as us Boomers can retort something like 'yeah right millennial' or 'yadah yadah gen y'!!
It can be to some people.
I've never heard anyone say it, but it sounds like a bit of schoolyard name calling. Very petty.
I've never heard of it before, but my initial feeling is it's a bit rude & disrespectful of an older generation. But having said that "baby boomers" can be very set in their ways & views and I guess it depends on the comment intent (jokingly or to be dismissive & disrespectful of someone else's opinion), how it is said & in what circumstance.
No not at all
Sounds pretty childish to me. Another trendy saying to make people with little grasp of the English language feel like they are literate.
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