"OK boomer" or "okay boomer" is acatchphrase andinternet meme used to dismiss or mock attitudes typically associated withbaby boomers – people born in the two decades followingWorld War II. The phrase first drew widespread attention due to a November 2019TikTok video in response to an older man, though the phrase had been coined years before that. The phrase has developed into a retort for resistance totechnological change,climate change denial, marginalization of members ofminority groups, or opposition to younger generations' values more generally.[1][2][3] Critics of the term perceive it asageist.[4][5] It has been noted as a marker ofintergenerational conflict.[2]
The first recorded instance of "OK boomer" is in aReddit comment on 29 September 2009,[citation needed] and it appeared from 2015 on4chan, to refer to others who seemed out of touch with the modern world.[6][7]Reason magazine credited journalistTaylor Lorenz with popularizing the term "OK boomer" in a story declaring "the end of friendly generational relations".[8] "OK boomer" reached mass popularity in late 2019 as a reaction to an unidentified older man'srant onTikTok condemning "infantile" younger generations "hobbled" bysocial media andparticipation trophies. He said, "millennials and Generation Z have thePeter Pan syndrome ... they don't ever want to grow up [and] they think that theutopian ideals that they have in their youth are somehow going to translate into adulthood". Thousands of viewers responded with "OK boomer" as "a sophisticated, mass retaliation" against the impact of past generations.[9]
The phrase has been used as a retort for perceived resistance to technological change,climate change denial, or opposition to younger generations' opinions.[1][2][3] Various media publications have noted the meme's usage on social media platforms beyond TikTok,[6][2][10] andThe New York Times wrote that "teenagers use it to reply to cringeyYouTube videos,Donald Trump tweets, and basically any person over 30 who says something condescending about young people – and the issues that matter to them."[2] As of November 2022[update], videos tagged with #OkBoomer onTikTok had been viewed about 4 billion times.[11]
In early November 2019, while giving a speech supporting aclimate change bill, New Zealand MPChlöe Swarbrick claimed that the average age of parliamentarians was 49 years old, and MPTodd Muller interrupted her, to which she responded "OK boomer" (despite him being part ofGeneration X).[12][13] She wrote in an article inThe Guardian that her comment "symbolised exhaustion of multiple generations".[14] Swarbrick received widespread support on social media, as well as criticism for allegedly promoting ageism, including by the MPChris Bishop.[15][16]
Swarbrick: How many world leaders for how many decades have seen and known what is coming but have decided that it is more politically expedient to keep it behind closed doors? My generation and the generations after me do not have that luxury. In the year 2050 I will be 56 years old, yet right now, the average age of this 52nd Parliament is 49 years old.
Todd Muller: That's impossible.
Swarbrick: OK boomer.[17]
A July 2019 song titled "OK boomer" fuelled the meme like an anthem, with cutting lyrics.[6][18] During halftime of theHarvard-Yale football game on 23 November 2019, climate change protesters interrupted the game by rushing the field and remained even after they were asked to leave, instead chanting "OK boomer."[19]
On 9 January 2020, during theJeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament, "OK boomer" was the answer to a 400-point question in the "OK" category: "A 2019New York Times article says this two-word phrase 'marks the end of friendly generational relations'."Ken Jennings elicited laughter from the audience with the response, "I get to say it toAlex! What is 'OK, boomer'?"[20] The phrase was used byUS Supreme Court Chief JusticeJohn Roberts on 15 January 2020, as part of questioning for theBabb v. Wilkie age discrimination case.[21]
On 2 March 2020, streamerNeekolul posted a video of lip-syncing and dancing to the song "Oki Doki Boomer" byYouTube content creator Senzawa while wearing aBernie 2020 shirt.[22][23] With more than 6 million views in four days,[22][24] and more than 30 million that month,[25][26] the video has been described by viewers as both cute and cringey.[27][28]
Many reactions have been positive.[29] According to India Ross of theFinancial Times, the phrase has "come to symbolise a generational cultural fracture" with attacks on its use from baby boomers perhaps only serving to increase its power and use.[30] Clémence Michallon ofThe Independent applauded the phrase as "just the right amount of dismissive" while warning against its overuse.[31] Miyo McGinn ofGrist applauded the term, writing, "This joy undeniably stems from righteous indignation as much as simple amusement—the two words feel downright poetic afteryears of hearing my generation blamed for 'killing' everything from restaurant chains to department stores to relationships."[32] Some have commented that the term should be considered ashorthand term for "The Establishment" rather than targeting a specific age group.[33]
Some commentators have considered the phrase to beageist. The conservative radio hostBob Lonsberry went as far as labeling the word "boomer" as "theN-word of ageism" in a widely criticized and soon deletedtweet. Furthermore, Lonsberry stated that "beinghip and flip does not make bigotry OK, nor is a derisiveepithet acceptable because it is new".[34]The Late Show with Stephen Colbert mocked him: "Clearly this fella needs to play the hot new game: 'Is This The New N-Word?' No, it's not. Thank you for playing."[35]Francine Prose ofThe Guardian suggested that the phrase reflects general cultural acceptance ofdiscrimination against older generations.[4] Also writing forThe Guardian,Bhaskar Sunkara criticized the meme and said that baby boomers instead "need solidarity" because many "older workers and retirees are struggling to survive" as "half of Americans approaching age 65 have less than $25,000 in savings".[5] In an interview,AARP executiveMyrna Blyth toldAxios, "OK, millennials. But we're the people that actually have the money."[36] Several French politicians have also accused the phrase of being ageist, with MPAudrey Dufeu Schubert (Renaissance) deeming it an ageist slur in a special report on "succeeding in bridging thegenerational gap and fighting ageism".[37]
"OK boomer" was one of the top five words for the year 2019 as selected by readers of a blog published onPublicAddress.net.[38] It was nominated for a similar designation by a university inSwitzerland, landing in second place.[39] The phrase is onLake Superior State University's 45th annualBanished Words List.[40]
Ahoodie bearing the phrase "OK boomer have a terrible day", designed by US art student Shannon O’Connor, generated more thanUS$25,000 in sales by 1 November 2019.[41] Multiple trademark applications were filed for "OK boomer", including one fromFox Media in 2019 with the intent to launch "an ongoing television series featuringreality competition, comedy, and game shows".[42]
Some writers and critics of the "OK boomer" meme responded with their own generational hostilities, particularly aimed towards members of Generation Z who are sometimes referred to as "zoomers".[43]
InThe Spectator, columnist Cosmo Landesman wrote, "I suspect that future generations will want to stick the boot into the boomers too, but Generation Z will provoke nothing but a yawn. Their children will look at them and their infatuation with the latest bit of digital technology, roll their eyes and declare: OK zoomer."[44] ComedianBill Maher also took aim at what he described as a sense of impatience and moral superiority among Generation Z's activists such as environmentalistGreta Thunberg, in a "New Rule" segment for hisHBO current events programReal Time titled "OK Zoomer."[45]
Responding to such criticisms, staff editor ofThe Bi-College News^ Viviana Freyer wrote, "When it is our turn to take the heat from 'Generation Alpha' and whatever generation comes next, we hopefully will understand that this comes with getting older, and we'll take the jokes with more grace than some thirty-something onTwitter getting overly defensive overside parts orcursive."[46]
Colloquially, the word "groomer" refers tochild grooming,[47] a person attempting to form trusting relationships with children, or their families or caregivers, in order to sexually abuse them.[48] Originally, "OK groomer" was used on social media to address YouTube personalityOnision, who had been accused of grooming young fans in 2020 and was the subject of a documentary produced byChris Hansen.[49][50][51][52]
"OK, Boomer." The catchphrase, coined by Generation Z (or Zoomers) on TikTok, has transcended the digital realm and planted itself firmly into popular discourse.
...trolls called on Twitter users to disrupt conversations among LGBT+ people with the phrase "OK groomer", a play on the Generation Z meme "OK boomer"...
Media related toOK boomer at Wikimedia Commons
