Why are people saying this word, and what do they mean?

[DieselPlatinum 5,121]

So in past few weeks I've been seeing the word "Boomer" be tossed around like hot potato.

 

So my questions are:

 

1) what do people mean when they say it?

 

2) is it intended to be an insult or something else?

 

3) who originally started saying it?

 

4) why the word "Boomer"?

[Michael828 816]

Just another way to divide people even more, now featuring ageism.

I literally don't understand why we just can't tolerate each other anymore. Like okay, someone said something unpleasant about you, just ignore it, no need to start a war.

 

[Person_Random 4,991]

ughhhh that?  It digusts me.  I have somewhat of an answer because my ex-friend was too busy running around on Reddit and Twitter to talk to me.  One of those days... gosh, I really hate social media addicts.

1. Well, ok so it means 'like a baby boomer' so someone who acts like a baby boomer (even if they're not).  For example, if someone wants to ditch school and someone else tells them not to, then it is a good (?) time to use it.  At least, that is what my ex-friend did to me.  Ughh... social media stupidity.

2. Some people say it as a joke to their friends.  Some use it to insult their friends.  But no one seriously insults anyone, well, not to my experience. So I guess both.

3. No idea.

4. Again, no idea.

But I do have to say, in the end, 'ok boomer' is more infuriating than anything else because well, I lost a friend just because they were too into memes and this popular stuff to pay attention to me.

[mydoom.exe 5,154]

Yes, it's intended to be used as an insult in the context of "ok boomer". You're essentially stating that you are disregarding someone's opinion purely because they're of a certain generation (Adriel.RB explained this earlier), which stereotypically has a certain mindset that us cool and edgy young hip teens don't really appreciate. It's not the word itself boomers dislike, and honestly when a word is taken as insulting, it's rarely the word itself that you dislike. There's nothing inherently bad about any word - at its base, a word is a mixture of different sounds. What you dislike is the disrespect typically attached with those words. So while it once referred to a certain generation of people, its meaning, at least on the internet, has now changed to refer to anyone who you deem as having an "outdated" style of thinking.

[sensei_tanker 3,098]

1) Boomer is short for "Baby Boomer", which is the generation of Americans (have been expanded to anyone of any nationality of that age) born right after WW2 (1946-1964). They are called boomers because there was an drastic increase in babies because soldiers came home and started families. 

 

2) Supposed to be an insult because the Baby Boomers are now reaching, or have reached, retirement age. It's used usually when someone says something old-fashioned or conservative and a younger person picks on them for their antiquated views. Though, people don't really know what "boomer" actually means and they sometimes just use it as an insult to anyone who they think said something stupid. Gen Xers use this word as a last-ditch effort to show that they're still young. 

 

3) Probably someone from 4chan. 4chan starts everything.

 

4) They chose "boomer" probably because it has the desired meaning and probably comes with a nice ring in "OK, Boomer". 

 

Example:

Old guy/Baby Boomer: Climate change is a hoax.

Millenial: Ok, Boomer. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by sensei_tanker

[kaisdf 3,320]

On 12/24/2019 at 1:56 AM, mydoom.exe said:

There's nothing inherently bad about any word - at its base, a word is a mixture of different sounds.

Ok reporter

[Viking4s 10,791]

lol, this is funny. My parents are boomers  
You have to go back to who and when the "ok boomer" comes from to understand this new temporary trend.

It is nothing less than a normal cheeky/disrespectful young vs old wise people relation / fight. It could be compared to the English "I hear what your are saying but..."  with a cheeky twist.  
Not an insult unless you wish to be offended (as meany teens which to be)... anyway you won't be a proper young person if you don't do something respectfulness ti the old ones in one way or another...

Edited December 25, 2019 by Viking4s

[Devoid 2,601]

I can see both sides of the argument, but looking from my personal perspective, I think it should only be regarded as a "meme," and not taken offensively. Though, on the flip-side, I can see how people could be offended. I would just refrain from calling anyone a "boomer," just because of the potential of it insulting someone. 

[REPLICATOR 8]

People are getting offended by the word boomer at December, well this meme was trending around November and right now redditors hate this word because it's repetitive anyone who says OK boomer gets down-voted to oblivion. It's not offensive if most of the people don't get offended by it. This is what 4chan does ATTENTIONS and DRAMA. seriously there is no difference between mainstream media who creates propaganda about specific person or group and one Edgy website.

[sensei_tanker 3,098]

On 12/26/2019 at 3:27 AM, sarim2345_the_master said:

i cant believe an entire generation is offended by two words...

Don't blame the boomers for this.

 

The Millenials get offended by virtually everything.

[mydoom.exe 5,154]

On 12/25/2019 at 4:55 PM, kaisdf said:

Ok reporter

im gonna report ur mum if you keep up that attitude

[Benefactor 6,888]

I thought a "boomer" was a huge Soviet nuclear missile submarine (see "Hunt for Red October") and people used that word to equate the size of the person with that sub.

[kaisdf 3,320]

4 hours ago, mydoom.exe said:

im gonna report ur mum if you keep up that attitude

ok zoomer

[mydoom.exe 5,154]

23 hours ago, kaisdf said:

ok zoomer

ok reporter

 

administrator and esports content helper and social media helper

Edited January 7, 2020 by mydoom.exe

[Devoid 2,601]

34 minutes ago, mydoom.exe said:

ok reporter

administrator and esports helper and social media helper

No make fun of Kaisy Waisy Daisy Doof :C

[kaisdf 3,320]

14 hours ago, mydoom.exe said:

ok reporter

administrator and esports helper and social media helper

esports content helper*, pls

[Sacrifice 2,278]

General rule is to not say a word if you don't know what it means and I'd recommend you to not say it, even if you know what it means.

I learnt it the hard way.

[r_Given6 859]

It's wise not to call an enemy Viking-Magnum, with Overdrive ready, a "boomer". 

[spiderman1000 737]

Well, lets just take boomer as a complement meaning we're the life of the party or something like that. or it means we're the C-4 explosives guy.

Spoiler

Spoiler

*Knock-knock*

Me: Who is it

???: Its swat

Me:wait what?!

swat:not what, Swat. we're here cause we heard c4 explosions.

Me: hey i dont have c-4

(they open this post)

swat: see this. arrest this man.

Me: noooooooooooooooo

swat: now you're a meme, not a me

Me: haha very funny.

swat: wait,you got it wrong.

(retypes it)

"meme: haha very funny"

Me: *thinks to myself* this guy from swat doesn't know what he is doing.

swat: no you misunderstood, our swat stands for 'so what after this'

Me:

Spoiler

swat: Ok boomer!