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‘OK boomer?’ Twitter has total meltdown over the latest offensive term: ‘Geriatric millennials’

May 19, 2021 | | Print Article

A media outlet has created the offensive label “geriatric millennials” to describe those born between 1980 and 1985. The 30-something crowd on Twitter was outraged, calling the term inaccurate and “ageist.”

Following the equally offensive reference “OK, boomer?” comes a new one for the millennial generation and the moniker is not popular. Medium came out with a piece that coined the phrase and got so much blowback over it on social media that they ran a poll. That poll overwhelmingly preferred the original name “millennial.” An impressive 44.6 percent voted to go back to the way things were and scrap the new label.

The title of the article in question is: “Why the Hybrid Workforce of the Future Depends on the ‘Geriatric Millennial.’” One person on Twitter noted that they were both insulted and inspired by the piece.

Erica Dhawan was the writer who came up with the cringy description. She contends those born during the early 80s are too old to be considered a regular millennial but younger than Gen Xers. The Independent is calling this group “cuspers” or “xenials.”

In the article, Dhawan writes: “The first time I heard ‘geriatric millennial’ I thought it was an oxymoron. Sarcastic, even. But as I thought more deeply about it, I realized how perfectly it describes so many of us. Geriatric millennials are a special micro-generation born in the early 1980s that are comfortable with both analog and digital forms of communication. They were the first generation to grow up with technology like a PC in their homes.”

The author is a “geriatric millennial” herself and the article appears to be very positive. Ironically, she argues in the post that her named group is effective at communicating across generational gaps as they straddle two entirely different age brackets.

“It’s this hands-on experience with pre-digital communication that distinguishes geriatric millennials from the younger set — even though many of us are still under 40 and makes them the linchpins of our changing workplaces. Geriatric millennials can read the subtext of an SMS just as well as they can pick up on a client’s hesitation in their facial expressions during an in-person meeting. They are neither ignorant of technology nor so engrossed in it that a voicemail inspires fear,” she wrote.

“For organizations that are divided across generational divides between baby boomers and Gen Z, it’s beneficial to call on your geriatric millennials to help you translate the experiences of both digital adapters (baby boomers) and digital natives (Gen Z). It not only makes for a better internal culture but a happier clientele,” Dhawan added.

Unfortunately, her title for early 80s millennials did not impress those in question and in fact just basically offended them. Confusing the issue further is that there are quite a few names for the group.

According to Entrepreneur, generations break down as follows:

  • 1925-1945: The Silent Generation
  • 1946-1964: Baby Boomers
  • 1965-1980: Generation X
  • 1977-1983: Xennials
  • 1981-1996: Millennials (also known as Generation Y)
  • 1993-1998: Zennials
  • 1997-2012: Generation Z or Centennials
  • 2013-present: Generation Alpha

Twitter was ablaze over the perceived insult and many were triggered by it: (** Language warning)

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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