Is It OK To Say "OK, Boomer?"
It sounds like a cheeky way to blow off the opinion of someone older than you—but does this phrase cross the line when it comes to snark?
The New York Times published a piece that has had far-ranging effects and stoked inter-generational ire just by focusing on what could be viewed as an innocuous phrase: “OK, boomer.” The article explains the rising popularity of responding to older people’s opinions by saying “OK, boomer,” referring to their belonging to the Baby Boomer generation. The phrase began among Zoomers and is meant to encapsulate the angst of Gen Z when it comes to the world they’ve inherited—and there may be some legitimacy. Millennials were the first generation worse off than the generation before them. To quote the article:
The phrase has gained so much attention that one entrepreneurial Zoomer put a design of the words on clothing and sold more than $10,000 worth of merchandise.
Following the article, “OK, boomer” seems to have captured the cultural moment. A 25 year-old politician in New Zealand used it to silence older hecklers, The Times’ own opinion column weighed in on it, and the Internet is still abuzz with the echo of “OK, boomer” fallout weeks after the article was published.
But is it OK to say “OK, boomer?” Detractors say that at best it’s stereotypical, at worst it’s ageism. Baby Boomer proponents say that it’s a flippant phrase and shouldn’t be given more weight than it deserves.
Where do you fall in the debate? Is it OK for teens and young adults to say “OK, boomer” or are they crossing a line? Let us know in the comments.
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It's just kind of stupid, really as well as being ageist. Someone born in 1945 is nearly 80 years old and has really different experiences from someone like me, not even 60 but born in 1964 so technically a boomer
Early Generation Xer here. I'm seeing a lot of comments by Boomers here saying that they were raised to respect older generations. Not all of you were. I remember as a kid seeing plenty of the younger Boomers being disrespectful to their elders, and a fair amount of the music you listened contained lyrics bashing older generations and authority figures (case in point: The Who's "My Generation"); a lot of the social protest music of the 60's and 70's was bashing older generations for the world they were leaving you -- and now you get upset because today's youth think the same of your generation? If you think today's youth are not respectful enough of their elders, remember that your generation weren't saints, either, and neither was mine.
It's OK IF you're good with displaying your ignorance of history.
The Baby Boomer Generation marched, demonstrated, rallied, wrote, spoke, and engaged in a multitude of other activities that made today's world a far better place in terms of unjust discrimination of many kinds. Anyone who doesn't know this needs to go back to school and learn about a generation that was far more badass than they'll likely ever be.
As long as they don't get upset when I respond, "Whatever, Punk!"
Like all epithets, I guess it depends on how it relates to you. If you are using it to show your lack of respect for someone who is older, and therefore deserves it, it is a good thing. History has shown that it doesn't matter how you treat someone you have no respect for, and that lets you get away with all sorts of behavior, even up to the point of atrocity and mass murder. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?
If, on the other hand, you find "Boomer" used as a pejorative to describe you, you can reappropriate the term and use it to show solidarity with your brothers and comrades in arms as you face your oppressors.