Annoying millennial speech habits

[Blues Heron]

Post the most annoying Millennial speech habits here. I'll start

"Theenk Yo" (thank you)

"N'n'n'no" (no)

[wasupaloopa]

1. "I was like .................." "I mean" before saying anything else.

[lastlib]

4. "I mean, it's, like, ferSURE, yanno?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Learn to speak SENTENCES, people!! -- -- --

[Kirk Lover]

92. Sounds like a valley girl there.

[Adrahil]

122. Welcome to 1982?

Classic Valley Girl.

Don't forget to tell those kids to get of your lawn.

[Codeine]

125. Quoting a thirty-five-year-old speech pattern

is not really bolstering your position here. It is the equivalent of someone in the 80s complaining about young people saying “hepcat” and “daddy-o.”

[lastlib]

149. People still do this. It demonstrates a blatant inability to THINK clearly and logically.

Communication is a skill that should be learned early in life and carried forward. It's not happening because people have acquired lazy mental habits.

[Captain Stern]

182. But the few people that say those things ARE communicating.

Hardly anybody actually still says 'fersure' anymore, but even if they were....if the person they are speaking to, understands what they mean, isn't that good communication? Isn't the whole point of communication to get the person you're speaking to, to understand what thoughts you are trying to convey?

Seems to me that if somebody is using words, or phrases, that most people understand perfectly, it's the folks that don't understand that probably should be brushing up on their communication skills.

[misanthrope]

170. I like "daddy-o"

I find language intriguing and anachronistic or historic terms to be fun.

I also dig "scram," "cat," "peepers," "jalopy," "dame" and others. Employed in careful moderation, they're good for a smile or chuckle.

[PatSeg]

153. Starting a statement with "I mean"

is becoming very annoying, but it isn't just millennials. I've seen well educated journalists of various ages doing this repeatedly on television. It is rapidly replacing "you know what I mean" as the most annoying, meaningless phrase. It is so pointless, that closed captioning rarely even picks it up.

[Demovictory9]

157. that's pre millenium speech

[treestar]

181. Like is not just millenials.

They learned that as older generations have done it so they are not responsible.

[crazycatlady]

2. How about we stop stereotyping a generation

[TubbersUK]

7. +1000

[Tipperary]

9. Many folks here love to stereotype. Let me see...southerners probably the number one

target for stereotyping, but then there are baby boomers, Christians, people who own guns, people who live in the country, people who drive pick-ups, people who drive BMWs, vegans, meat eaters, home schoolers, private schoolers, men, women...oh, the list is long and varied.

[crazycatlady]

37. This board has a very "get off my lawn" vibe to it

I'm a token non boomer on this board. If I had to guess, there's a lot of people who would otherwise post here who don't because of this. I almost feel the need to apologize for being born in the 80s instead of the 50s.

The Democratic Party needs to open up for all generations (judging by candidate recruitment for this cycle, they have), as do places like this. There was a poster here who called Run For Something (a group who's goal is to elect a bench of younger Democrats who understand the issues young people are facing) to state/local offices ageist. IMO that's like calling EMILY's list sexist because they don't support male candidates.

[Sunsky]

60. I agree

I feel the same way. I normally just roll my eyes right pass these posts or just click ignore. I guess ageism only affects the boomers and above. Also, some people spend way too much time being annoyed.

[meadowlark5]

82. I am in my mid 50s and constantly come to the defense of the younger generation

millennials and younger. I especially enjoy my old fart "friends" on FB posting pictures of kids looking at their phones and complaining about these kids and their phones. Or my old fart friends complaining about the use of social media by the younger generations, all while sitting on social media bitching about it.

Recently, while in the theatre, I looked around waiting for my friend to come back from concessions and there were all of these adults with their heads down looking at their phones. When I see people looking at their phones while driving 9 times out of 10 it's an adult not a kid.

It makes me mad because it is their (the old farts) generation that created this tech world our kids today are born into. Anyone of them that claims they wouldn't have used a smartphone when they were a kid and instead been outside playing is full of shit.

[mercuryblues]

109. My and my freinds

Laugh and say how happy we are that cell phones weren't around when we were younger.

People kid themselves by thinking they were too responsible to succumb to the cell phone craze.

[Mariana]

205. You remember when Pokemon Go came out?

There were vast crowds of young people going outside to play, and walking all over creation, and what did the old farts have to say about it? Why, they griped about it. "People need to put down their damned phones and get a life!"

Shocking, I know.

[Mariana]

85. You have a very good point.

One example that bothers me is the threads here that have excoriated young people for not voting in high enough numbers, and blamed them for giving us Trump. Hello? The majority of older voters cast their ballots for Trump, but you're not likely to see any threads blaming them for it.

I'm an old X'er, born 1966.

[KentuckyWoman]

91. It didn't used to be this way.

The old timers that filled this board when I first joined were more concerned about social and economic justice and equality.

I have no idea who is actually posting some of the garbage I've seen on this board the last year or two. Thanks to a cyber world full of "netvocates" the so called old fart posting this OP could be anything from an actual old fart to a youngsgter making assumptions about what old farts think to someone half a world away paid to push the social agenda in the US of A.

Regardless, I agree with you... between the "young people suck" and "white people suck" and "anyone who doesn't agree with me sucks" posts this board is offering less and less substance and I find myself here less and less.

And yes... you've got me... I'm indeed an old fart missing the way it used to be.

[DonCoquixote]

118. please keep in mind

People of all generations feel that they can be as rude , or simply egocentric, as they want to be, and it shows. also The psy ops that has turned Twitter and facebook into tools, knows very well how to pluck strings.

[KPN]

94. I agree. And I'm a child of the 50s.

Millennials inspire me. I've met and spent many hours conversing with them through my three adult kids now in their 30s (30 - 35 actually). They are our future. That's where I draw my optimism from.

So yeah, enough of the stereotyping, etc.

[crazycatlady]

106. I'm a kid of the 80s

And I get my optimism from Gen Z-- particularly those who attend one school in FL.

[RKP5637]

179. Well Said!!! K&R

[Tipperary]

131. You are right, and judging from posts here, this board skews toward over 55.

Plenty over 60 and 70 from what I’ve seen in posts where people state their age.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

51. Outgroup Homogeneity Effect:

"The tendency to view an outgroup as homogenous, or as “all the same,” whereas the ingroup is seen as more heterogeneous or varied."

AKA, prejudice.
I live in the country and suspect I have been lumped into the "toothless ignorant hillbilly" cohort by urbane passers-through.

[misanthrope]

171. What if I've lived more than 50 years in the Heart of Dixie

and speak from daily experience? Is that still "stereotyping?"

[Tipperary]

172. It is clear you hate the south. You have made that abundantly clear.

I kind of feel sorry for you; it must be awful to live in a region you so despise.

[misanthrope]

180. It is "awful" and it's completely beyond my control due to health/economic issues

Once again, I'll recommend Colin Woodard's "American Nations" if you want to understand my experiences and the South's role in bringing our nation to this perilous condition.

Society/culture in the place I reside was modeled after the sugar kingdoms of the West Indies. Deep South slaveowners often threatened slaves with being sent to Cuba owing to the island's notoriously horrific conditions. My town of residence was noted for its longtime chumminess with Havana.

I was born in the Civil Rights Era. MLK was assassinated before I started grade school. I've seen integration of public institutions and spaces. I've watched white flight in action, in my own neighborhood and seen nearly a half century of its ramifications.

I've lived and gone to school in white flight suburbs, places where sports teams were named Rebels, fans waved Confederate flags and they all sang "Dixie" together. I've spent most of my life hearing what's said when many white folks think there are nothing but sympathetic ears gathered round. I've seen what transcends socio-economic class and what works to keep those lines in place.

While these things don't apply to 100 percent of Southern residents -- there are outliers and good people, sure -- regional cultural norms insisting "don't make waves" help bolster their perpetuation. Change comes much, much slower down here than elsewhere.

[Stinky The Clown]

41. You mean like we don't stereotype Boomers?

[yardwork]

61. I think it is hilarious. Boomers and Gen Xers making fun of other generations' speech habits?!

Dudes, lay off the young people, ya know what I mean? I mean, gag me with a spoon. As if. Peace and love, man.

[cemaphonic]

161. Word up!

It's funny how, in this very long thread, there are very few actual examples of Millennial slang.

So how about :

"swole"

or the many variations of "full of fail/full of win."

[yardwork]

173. My millennial kids never say those things.

The only familiar one I see is the way they say Nnnnnooooooo...... in a sort of vague understated way.

For boomers to be laughing at ANYBODY for using repetitive stereotypical phrases cracks me up.

It's been real, man.

[jberryhill]

104. Fine. Get them off my lawn!

[Sherman A1]

105. Yup

nailed it there.

[procon]

108. All generations have certain identifiable, idiosyncratic speech patterns.

There's no point in denying it. Millenials are no different than any of the other six recognizable generations who came before them. Starting with the Lost Generation, the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomer Generation, and so on, the Millennials have their own way of speaking, too.

Trying to tack on the ever critical, boogie man "stereotype" label doesn't make it go away, those peculiar phases and odd inflections adopted be each generation are an integral part of our history and culture. The eccentric mannerisms might be annoying or ridiculous in the present tense, but as time goes by we tend to fondly remember all the quirky things our parents and grandparents said and they they become charming and endearing for all their oddities.

[Blues Heron]

110. +1

[SammyWinstonJack]

114. +1000000!

[DangerousRhythm]

209. Thank you. Gen Xer here.

I remember everyone putting us down, dismissing us and calling us lazy slackers, even Newsweek had a particularly nasty article I remember:

“The Whiny Generation”
http://www.newsweek.com/whiny-generation-194042

I always stick up for millennials and younger when I see this sort of thing happening.

[obamanut2012]

222. This -- I work with this age young adults every day

Appalling OP. Isn't even a GD post anyway.

[femmocrat]

3. Starting every answer with "So...."

I hear it on TV all the time.

[Tipperary]

12. That drives me crazy. I hear it especially on NPR.

It seems to have suddenly become a thing.

[Tree-Hugger]

192. So, NPR is aware of this

[link:http://www.npr.org/2015/09/03/432732859/so-whats-the-big-deal-with-starting-a-sentence-with-so|]

It's supposedly an intellectual thing. Working in both human and veterinary medicine, I have listen to doctors, nurses, and techs use "so" to begin their explsnations for a couple of decades now.

[Blues Heron]

17. +1

[dragonlady]

32. I think it's a replacement for starting a sentence with "Well, ..." n/t

[femmocrat]

38. Yes!

I remember that from the 80s because reagan did it all the time and it became a "thing."

[Blues Heron]

54. another Reaganism the "and,no" construction

"And, no, [insert non negotiable right wing position here]"

[OhZone]

96. Well, there you go again.

[Renew Deal]

39. So I havent noticed it

[Clarity2]

46. Yes!

I noticed all the commentators on MSM are doing it too. Drives me insane. Particularly when I hear Mark Zuckerberg do it because he begins almost every sentence with it.

[GoneOffShore]

127. As the expression goes - And scene.

That is the most annoying speech pattern I've encountered in a long time. And it's multi-generational.
Up speaking seems to be fading a bit, as does 'vocal fry'. And for this relief, much thanks.

[BritVic]

139. This annoys me intensely

You hear it almost every time anyone under 25 is interviewed these days. Where on earth did it originate, I wonder? A previous bugbear was the High Rising Terminal, but this is worse. A few weeks back I even saw a union representative being interviewed (female in her 40's) starting her answers to every question with "So..."

I'm all for the evolution of language - I embrace textspeak and so on, but this is such an irritating trait !


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

[PatSeg]

158. Starting a sentence with "So..."

is much the way grade school children talk. It is not something we expect from older, more educated people to do. It appears to just be a very bad habit.

[spooky3]

152. Ditto. I have a colleague who draws out the so-o-o...

To make it doubly annoying. And she is old enough to be a parent of a millennial.

[fallout87]

199. Exactly what I was thinking.

Very annoying.

[TubbersUK]

5. Why?

Why not just annoying speech habits generally, regardless of age?

[ck4829]

21. Ugh, because we are *supposed* to crave division.

We are told to divide male vs female, white vs non-white, employed by private sector vs employed by public sector, straight vs queer, and of course old vs young.

But turn it to powerful vs powerless, rich vs poor, those who define things vs those who lack that ability or trying to subvert it, dominant vs those supposed to be submissive, and then you're playing "identity politics" or waging "class warfare".

[Leith]

6. The Worst Pan-Generational Speech Habits

Sentences that end with the intonation rising. It makes the speaker sound like they don't really know what they are talking about and is begging for approval for what they are saying.

Constantly interrupting another person in middle of a sentence. I can't watch Chris Matthews for this reason (and a couple others).

I've never heard the phrases in the OP.

If "pan-generational" isn't a word, it should be.

[Blues Heron]

20. Upspeak. Started in the valley?

[LSFL]

78. That rising intonation thing

Is rampant in commercials. Especially dating app adds. It is crazy making to me.

That being said , why single out millennial speech?
It's like uncool dude. And... um... totes untubular. Man, its like people forget all the groovy and far out lingo that they used. It would be plumb spoony if we could just stop with all the ballyhoo over nothing.

[Leith]

99. Yes

Rising intonation is very noticeable in news and opinion stories when people are interviewed. I heard one yesterday on NPR where an expert on the subject spoke with a rising intonation so bad that she practically sang her responses. It was hard to take her seriously.

Older generations have been complaining about younger generations since humans developed speech. Some examples.

It's unfair and tiresome.

[mitch96]

120. "Sentences that end with the intonation rising."

YES!! that drives me nuts.. Are you asking me a question shrouded in a statement? or
are you from Australia...

m

[Aristus]

8. As if old people didn't do the same thing?

"Amirite?"

"You follow me?" (after every sentence...)

I'm 'X' years young (I hate that expression...)

Old-people profanity: "Consarn it!" "Dad-gummit!"

Stupid expressions are even worse when one is ostensibly old enough to know better...

[Tipperary]

19. I have to say in all my years, many of them spent working with seniors -

that I have never heard “consarn it” or “dad-gummit.” I think I would start giggling if I heard either one.

[Blue_Adept]

27. I'm in my mid-40's but I use that stuff just to mess with my kids

Throwing in stuff like "kettle of fish" and "mug's game" to the dialogue as well. They used to get confused but now they just play along to humor their old man.

[yardwork]

64. I'm in my late 50s and I do the same thing.

I call the microwave "the nuker" just to trigger the inevitable response from my millennial kids. "It's not really nuclear, Mom."

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

123. At least they don't say "nucular", like Republicans.

You teached them good.

[Tipperary]

136. Lol. I love some of these old figures of speech.

[mama]

184. My kids used to laugh when I'd say "Mind your own beeswax"!

It's fun to see their reaction to unusual sentences!

[d_r]

36. turning 50 soon

and I say dadgummit when I have a chance to embarrass my kids

[northoftheborder]

88. I've heard those - from my dad - whose generation is now really gone; a generation which was......

....taught not to swear, and these were harmless substitutes...."dad-burnit'...."heck"....others I can't remember....

[Maeve]

165. And then there is "What the Sam Hill is going on?"

My mother knew a Sam Hill and it was apparently common enough in the day for him to find his name embarrassing....

[cemaphonic]

148. My brother is fond of "consarn it."

But he is right on the cusp of GenX/Millenial (1980), so it probably doesn't count.

[GoneOffShore]

129. Hell, I just say fuck, a lot. And I'm old.

If one can't use full blown profanity, then it's not worth using it at all.

[Iggo]

143. Know'm say'n?

[Mariana]

207. The pseudo-profanity is so ridiculous.

Like Jesus (and everyone else) doesn't know what they really mean.

[Aristus]

211. I agree.

It's part and parcel with the hypocritical bourgeois morality of the 1950's that gave birth to those expressions.

[blogslut]

10. Unrec

[NurseJackie]

11. I hear "nooo problem" and "absolutely" repeated often...

... especially from wait-staff.

[Blues Heron]

25. "perfect" too

[marble falls]

13. 23skiddo, and so's yer old man, bee's knee's, swanky, swell. Screwy millenials!

[Tipperary]

22. And let us not forget

“Bob’s your uncle.”

[marble falls]

24. The absolute worst!!! Why can't these kids speak more like the rest of us, dagnabit?

[Blues Heron]

26. OP is pretty off my lawnish, mea culpa!

[marble falls]

28. I'm in my wheelhouse, say again?

[leftyladyfrommo]

57. My mother who would be 105 now

used yo say bee's knees. And Swell was huge in the old 1940's movies.

[sl8]

69. ... there are two words which you will never use. One of them is "swell" ...

[defacto7]

67. All of those except swell date back to the 20's

and earlier.

[cemaphonic]

151. ...

[defacto7]

156. Well... that's not my best suit I suppose.

He he..

[ck4829]

14. "Not my problem", but that's not a millennial speech habit.

"Get over it", whoops, again not a millennial speech habit.

"Life's not fair", darn, again. Sorry.

"Can't you just be... NEUTRAL?" Oh man, I don't know what's wrong with me.

[Trust Buster]

15. Basically............

[nocoincidences]

16. This one is very subtle and I have noticed it

because it affects my last name.

Losing the t sound in the middle of a two syllable word if there is a vowel before and after the t.

Nu--er Bu--er

Fa--un (fatten)

Co--un

It drives me crazy!!!!

[Blues Heron]

23. good one

[Blues Heron]

29. missing L's as well

"thank you for hoding!"

[Codeine]

31. Thats not so much a generational thing

as it is a regionalism. Swallowed syllables and glottal stops always sound Upper Midwestern to me.

[GreenEyedLefty]

45. This upper Midwesterner agrees.

I have to consciously slow down. I have been shamed into no longer saying "'n 'at" (and that) at the end of sentences. I also no longer pronounce "else" as "eltz". It's kind of sad because I like the Midwestern dialect. It's fun to guess where people are from based on their accents. Cleveland, Chicago (metro) and Minnesota are pretty distinctive.

[crazycatlady]

33. I think that has more to do with accents than generations

My dad (boomer) is notorious for not pronouncing his t's. For example, to him the capital of New Jersey is "Tren-in" and a baby cat is "kit'en"

He was born and raised in the Philly area.

[nocoincidences]

200. Well suddenly it has become more than a regional accent.

I have lived in the Midwest, in Texas, and now and Virginia and have heard a gazillion different regional accents.

But suddenly it is coming out of the mouths of lots of young folks, and I gotta believe they are picking it up from somewhere, shows, music, podcasts, whatever is trending on the Net, no doubt.

The fact that I am noticing it everywhere is what makes me believe that.

It might well have had a regional origin, but everybody's doin' it, doin' it...

[MontanaMama]

40. I hear the dropped middle syllable a LOT!

Where in the world did this come from? I never thought it was a Millenial thing, however.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

48. That pattern is, I believe, called a glottal stop

and it's been around in English forever. I know it was common in certain parts of England, Cockney, I believe. I have a cousin who has that glottal stop very strongly.

[TuxedoKat]

52. This one drives me crazy too

Notice it with a lot of young people.

[defacto7]

55. That's very British as well, low British.

[frogmarch]

107. glottal t sound - I do it

almost always. It comes naturally. Yes, I'm an American.

[Ms. Toad]

169. I disagree that this is "American" English

or regional, specifically.

I've been in the same region since 1978 - and it is only recently that I have noticed this pronunciation in more than a handful of people.

(This is different from other regionalisms that I've noticed the entire time I've lived here - like dropping "to be" from infinitive phrases: The car needs washed (which, formally, should be the car needs to be washed.)

[Qutzupalotl]

111. Oh no you di_n!

[mitch96]

124. "Fla--un (fatten) " also Moun-un... for mountain

I've noticed some of the people I've worked with from South Jersey do that with "T's"...
Just my observation..
m

[flibbitygiblets]

159. My spouse is from North NJ and "moun-un" is his only tell

well, that and aggressive driving.

[mitch96]

166. And there is always Lon-Giland

Not Long Island...
m

[Leith]

162. That's How Natives of Toronto Can Identify Each Other

They come from "Tronno."

[mitch96]

164. Down South also...

Native Mississippians say Miss-sipy.. At least my 'sippy friends do..
m

[Maeve]

167. I listen to NY radio sometimes and "Manha-un" makes me sure the speaker is local to the area

Being from the Midwest, "Manhattan" has 3 syllables, not two

[mitch96]

213. I've heard "Man-at-un also

Trying to figure out where someone is from by the way they speak is fun, if not frustrating.
Like the collective "you".. Yous, yun's and y'all... No wonder people from other countries who speak English don't understand us!!

m

[Ms. Toad]

168. That's the one that drives me nuts.

Last edited Sun Apr 15, 2018, 05:44 PM - Edit history (2)

I've been scrolling through this thread trying to remember the word I hear all the time recently - that invariably comes out with the swallowed consonant thing.

Still can't remember the word that I hear every day...

ETA: "impor..ant" is the word I'm hearing every day.

[Tree-Hugger]

178. That is an accent thing

We do it in Philly.

[Blue_Adept]

18. I've never seen the two that you mention

But what you ARE seeing is a rapid shift in how communication works thanks to the Internet and connectivity. It's something that used to change gradually but now goes through fairly regular phase shifts and turns that are delighting linguists who are seeing it unfold in real time.

If the changes in dialogue and communication annoy you, perhaps you need to examine why it does? Are you resistant to change? Do you feel left out of the conversation? Do you feel that "your generation" had it right and these kids are just being annoying by changing what worked?

It may be worth working it out with a therapist as it could be indicative of other things you want to examine how you react to.

[Blues Heron]

30. Just a get off my lawnish OP n/t

[Drahthaardogs]

34. Just the general rudeness and abruptness

I'm trying to purchase their product, and they make me feel like I am inconveniencing them.

[csziggy]

56. Annoying salespeople have been around for decades

Forty five years ago I walked out of one of the "better" stores in town because two saleswomen would rather gossip and ignore me rather than help me with my purchase. Many years later I was given a gift certificate to that store and again had difficulty getting sales assistance. I never went back and cheered when I heard they were going out of business.

[Drahthaardogs]

70. Yes, but that was bthe exception

It now appears to be the rule. The young generation is losing the ability to communicate verbally, read body language, etc. My youngest son got a job last year right out of college with a very good Fortune 500 company (really, he got a career).

They hired him before he graduated because he made eye contact, laughed at a little joke the recruiter made, and was able to hold a conversation.

That's saying something about what cell phones and texting is doing to a generation. I limited my kid's uses of the devices.

[csziggy]

74. No, because I always dress casually I have had bad service from lots of businesses

When I was interviewing investment counselors one asshole refused to even invite me into his office to talk privately because I was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

I can't count the number of times I have been unable to get the attention of salespeople because I did not fit their idea of a customer with money. When I was combining trips into town for various kinds of shopping, from clothes to horse feed I simply didn't dress up fancy enough for any of the upscale department stores. Because of that for years I bought most of my clothes from the Sears catalogue - now I buy my clothes online. All just so I don't have to deal with snotty (and snot nosed) salespeople.

Hell, the local John Deere dealership lost my business forever when they would not talk to me about a tractor with attachments. On the other hand, the Massey-Ferguson dealer was attentive and gave me great service for the initial sale and for the yearly service on my tractor. The John Deere dealership lost out on a $50,000 cash sale and years of continued service by being assholes - though I am not sure if it was the way I dressed or because I am a woman.

[crazycatlady]

81. The difference between then and now

Now if you have a negative experience in a store, you can post on their social media pages in 30 seconds and get a higher up's attention.

Also sites like Yelp exist. I don't think that a Pretty Woman moment would happen today without serious backlash.

[csziggy]

89. True - back when I complained to management they just blew me off

While now I can get the word out to thousands and management has to pay attention.

Good point!

[obamanut2012]

223. This has nothing to do with Millenials

[kysrsoze]

35. Annoying older generations generalizations.

Pretty childish, IMO.

[MontanaMama]

42. Rather than join the get off my lawn parade,

maybe we can talk about changes and trends in our language that may or may not be annoying to some of us rather than assigning blame for this to Millenials? Some of the posts are interesting and true IMO...

[Blues Heron]

47. Always up for that!

Some things grate, but it's all fascinating. Love language in all its permutations and swirls. Still, some things are jarring, like saying "oh you're good" instead of you're welcome when thanked.

[MontanaMama]

53. My pet peeve!

I also often hear “oh you’re fine” used silmilarly. I want to say “hell yes I’m fine!” Makes me nuts.

[DinahMoeHum]

43. "AWESOME!!!"

It's absolutely grating to hear that expression for every mundane thing happening.

[RobinA]

217. Add To That

“Devastated.” I am so sick of hearing how people are devastated. “That snowstorm came along and they cancelled the concert. I was devastated.” No, your entire family was killed in a flaming wreck and you are devastated. “Devastated” is not what you are when some foible of every day life happens.

[lunatica]

44. Groovy, the man, tune in, turn off, Bitchin, cooties...

We were so much more eloquent in the 60s.

[yardwork]

62. I know, right! I'm rotfl.

[defacto7]

63. Don't forget the suffix "ville" like

That's coolsville man.

[lunatica]

77. There just too many to list them all!

But I really should have included a ‘ville’! Cool!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

175. That one might be older, from the "beat" generation

An almost forgotten group.

I'd try to define it, but, man, I'm just beat.

[defacto7]

196. Yeah, I think you're right.

Last edited Sun Apr 15, 2018, 06:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Like, Dobie Gillis... Maynard G. Crebs-ville man. There was some crossover between the late 50's and 60's. I was a kid in the 60's and I remember bongo beating beatniks still hanging around in the early part of that decade. It was the Beatles that changed everything, they were in and with it, baby. That's how I remember it.

[Different Drummer]

121. "Bitchin" (meaning good or great) has been around since the 60s?!

Interesting. I never heard it before the 80s.

[lunatica]

147. Its been around since the late 50s

It was a surfer slang word for great surfing. Very California.

[Different Drummer]

150. That explains why I never heard it since before the 80s since I'm from GA.

This was my introduction to "bitchin."

[Tipperary]

137. Far out!

[H2O Man]

49. No, thank you.

[GreenEyedLefty]

50. Who raised the Millennial generation?

Baby Boomers. (To a lesser extent, Gen X (I was a very young mom of a Millennial.))

People who cast stones at the younger generation should probably ask who raised them. Usually the answer serves as a mirror.

[link:http://nationalpost.com/life/everything-i-hate-about-you-is-because-of-me-how-baby-boomers-created-their-own-millennial-monsters|

[radius777]

189. Generation Jones

Wikipedia
Generation Jones is a term coined by the author Jonathan Pontell to describe those born from approximately 1954 to 1965, while other sources place the start point at 1956 or 1957. This group is essentially the latter half of the baby boomers to the first years of Generation X.

Basically Gen-J are late Boomers/early X'ers (like Obama), who see themselves as distinct, and who gave birth to the Millennials/Gen-Y.

Boomers (like the Clintons) are the parents of Gen-Xers (like Chelsea).

[GreenEyedLefty]

212. This is the first I heard of Generation Jones.

My parents were from the "silent generation" - born before or at the beginning of the 1940s. I am a solid X, born in 1971. I hate the way I was raised. My parents' benign neglect did me no favors and it drives me nuts that people wear that shit like a badge of honor.

I love Millennials and Gen Y-ers.

[radius777]

215. there was talk about it when Obama won in 2008

about how he really wasn't quite a Boomer but also not an Xer.

Basically sociologists sometimes miss the 'in-between generation' phenomenon, Generation Jones is a glaring example of this.

I'm also an Xer although born later in the 70s.. I fully identify as X, having come of age during the 80s and 90s and the hip hop and alt-rock culture that defined us.. but I do relate pretty well to Millennials, being a somewhat later Xer.

[underpants]

58. I've established a 2 second rule with my daughter

We each must wait 2seconds before speaking after the other person finishes speaking.

Not that she's that bad but I HATE when people just start blabbing clearly having not listened or considered what was just said.

[mama]

188. I feel like not listening is the cause of the "So" technique

It's like someone has to stall while he figures out what he was asked and how to answer.

[WhiteTara]

59. It's fab! it's cool to have a generational vocabulary

[NotASurfer]

65. One thing that really gets my goat

(Keeping counterpoint there) I've noticed women recently apparently taking pains to keep the fast-paced high-pitched voice of a pre-teen girl as adults.

It grates on my ear, almost as much as when the Orange Abomination speaks, and I really have to force myself to listen.

Must have missed the memo on that

[leftyladyfrommo]

101. Here in KCMO I kept hearing "this jacks my jaw ".

I hadn't ever heard that one before. It refers to something that is annoying.

I think it was short lived because I haven't heard it lately.

[leftyladyfrommo]

66. It's nice to be talking about something besides Trump.

Every generation has it's slang words and new linguistic patterns. I think it's interesting.

We said "righteous". Now the younger people say "wicked ".

[crazycatlady]

83. I almost never hear 'wicked'

ANd i'm probably half the age of most of this forum.

I take that back-- I do hear 'wicked' but only in New England.

[Mariana]

119. Wicked, properly used, is an adverb.

For example: "It's wicked cold out."

[Tipperary]

134. I hear the word sick used a lot.

As a really good thing lol. Lots of the winter Olympians used it. Language is funny.

[Squinch]

68. "Literally"

[Codeine]

113. Thats every fifth word out of my ten-year-old

son’s mouth. That and “flippin’” or “frickin’” seem to comprise most of his current vocabulary.

[Squinch]

115. My entirely beloved 26 year old niece. Intelligent, successful, beautiful, but uses "literally"

to modify every other word. I'm going to start smacking her head every time I hear it.

[sl8]

128. I'm with you on that.

I understand that language, especially English, is constantly changing, and I'm generally OK with that.

Using "literally" when one is speaking figuratively just seems a bridge too far. It might as well be Newspeak. I think that it's use will probably irk me 'til the day I die.


From https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/13/literally-broken-english-language-definition

Have we literally broken the English language?

Well, no, but the redefinition of 'literally' leaves it in a rather awkward state. Perhaps it's a word best avoided for the moment

Martha Gill
Tue 13 Aug 2013 11.05 EDT

Google puts it, "literally" can be used "to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling".

Did we, as genuinely hundreds of people are tweeting, just break the English language? Or did we, as totally tens of bloggers are writing, prove that the English language is a beautiful, organic creature that is forever slipping out of our control? Well, no: to be precise, we have done something mildly annoying.

...

More at link.

[Blues Heron]

72. Does anybody know the origin of "n'n'n'n'no"

TV show?

[sl8]

75. Sounds like something that Max Headroom might have started.

But that's probably just folk etymology.

[CountAllVotes]

76. who cares

yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah ...

[Iggo]

144. I said it in my twenties...

...thirty years ago.

It was derivative of "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah bullshit."

[sl8]

73. Im still wondering why "groovy" didn't last any longer than it did.

Seems I just turned around and it was gone.

[Different Drummer]

117. I still say it. n/t

[sl8]

130. We two may be the only hep cats left. n/t

[jayschool2013]

79. The word "versus"

is not pronounced "verse."

[janterry]

80. on accident

instead of by accident.

It's widely accepted, but annoying to old me.....

[IluvPitties]

84. As an older millenial

I don't find this post to be constructive.

[Kirk Lover]

93. I'm not even sure what this post means...hence the scant examples of

"millennial speak".

[Anon-C]

86. I know, right!

"Yaawww" (yeah)

Something called "Derp"...

[NCTraveler]

87. I would like to see horse hockey and malarkey make a comeback. Nt

[leftyladyfrommo]

97. That's Horse Pucky where I come from.

My dad got on a "cotton pickin" kick for a while. He used it a couple of times in every sentence. It was annoying.

[procon]

90. "Upspeaking"; making every sentence sound like a question.

We've all heard this linguistic speech pattern, when the pitch increases in a sentence to end abruptly at the last word. It drives me bonkers. More women than men adopt this style of talking and it makes them sound helpless and child-like, as is they want to be seen as uncertain, inferior and submissive.

[Nay]

145. That and the "vocal fry" drives me nuts -- when even young women sound

like they have a permanently damaged throat and can't talk without that 'growl.'

[aikoaiko]

95. Sorry. Not Sorry.

It’s an admission that you can’t trust the person who says this phrase.

[Tipperary]

138. That one I love!

I have never used it, but I just find it amusing. Reminds me of my cat’s face when I catch her on the table. If cats had sayings, that would most certainly be one!

[aikoaiko]

141. It reminds me of Pee-Wee Herman in Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams.

I'm sorry I took the money. I'm sorry I took the money.

I'm NOT sorry I took the money. MWAH! HAHA!

Which I think was comedic genius.

[blogslut]

191. Clara Bow said this in 1933:

"My life in Hollywood contained plenty of uproar. I'm sorry for a lot of it but not awfully sorry..."

I'm sorry for a lot of it but not awfully sorry.

Same, Clara. Same.

[aikoaiko]

216. That's great.

[honest.abe]

98. Wait... what??

Actually.. its not really annoying.. just funny.

[Blues Heron]

103. +1

even better spelled "wait wut?"

[shanti]

100. Vocal fry

I HATE it!

[leftyladyfrommo]

102. Does that refer to mouthy kids?

Never heard that one.

[Codeine]

116. Fry is the lowest tone used in speaking.

It’s a scratchy, low-breath-pressure sort of speech that historically seemed very rare, but in recent years has become incredibly common among younger speakers, especially females.

[shanti]

204. Nope

If you listen to some of the kids talking, it's like a growling sound that they make with the vocal cords. Some, not all! I just don't hear it in people older than 50. Once you hear it, you never forget it!

[tblue37]

112. I teach college, so I have taught many, many millennials. I have never heard either of those. nt

[Salviati]

126. Annoying non-millenial speech habits:

Beginning every other sentence with: "You know what the problem with Millennials is..."

[GoneOffShore]

132. Excellent!

[Agschmid]

133. Yup.

[GoneOffShore]

135. You might want to edit the title to 'Annoying speech habits'.

Because speech habits do spread across generations. And with the rise of social media, that can happen much more quickly than before.
And as others have rightly pointed out, why single out millennial's?

[Tipperary]

140. I know you have caught some flak on this thread, but it is a great op!

I love language in all its idiosyncrasies.

[Iggo]

142. Kids these days. Am I right?

:highfive:

[hardluck]

146. I havent found any millennial speech pattern as annoying

As the boomer’s generation’s habit of talking out of both sides of their mouth.

[grantcart]

154. Whatever

Of course their speech is irritating.

We did the same thing as each generation will do with their speech, music and dress.

Nobody did it as well as the generation of the roaring 20s.

[Takket]

155. hahaha tell me about it

and Ebonics too!!!!!!!! Am I right?????????

[ismnotwasm]

160. Annoying old fart speech patterns

Starts with “back in the day”

[cemaphonic]

163. Isn't that one more of a younger Xer/older millenial phrase?

At least among white people. I don't remember people saying it until it hit rap in the late 90s

[ismnotwasm]

186. How about back in MY day?

[cemaphonic]

187. sure, that one's ancient

As in: Back in the day, old people said "Back in my day."

[ismnotwasm]

203. I think its pretty funny that the, Im supposing, late boomer generation here

The generation of Cheech and Chong and George Carlin, are attempting to be “annoyed” at the speech patterns of younger people.

[radius777]

193. that is a Gen-X era phrase

that came into usage in the 80's/90s, that Millennials also use (slangs do bleed over to subsequent generations).

[CTyankee]

174. Using "I graduated high school in 1980" instead of "graduated from high school."

It is an irritant to me...

[RobinA]

218. This Drives Me Crazy

but it’s not just millennial. And it has spread so I’m reading it all the time now.

[CTyankee]

220. Do you know how this odd construction came about?

It makes no sense and I do mean that literally.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

176. So, yeah, how's this one?

Starting sentences with "So, ", or "Yeah,".

Or with "Yeah, so, ", or "So, yeah, ".

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

177. That's a great question

I hear this on radio a lot. Someone asks a question, and the answer comes back, "That's a great question."

A stalling technique while mentally fumbling for an appropriate answer?

[rockfordfile]

183. I haven't notice any speech habits by millennials.

[Loki Liesmith]

185. Talking

[MineralMan]

190. Groovy! Far Out! Really Boss!

[BlueStater]

194. Annoying habits of grouchy old people.

Complaining about people younger than them. Also, how they expect respect just because they went through the biological process of aging.

[defacto7]

198. Ha, I haven't heard that argument in about 40 years.

Me... I call it the evolution of language but won't complain too much about age in the process. It's inevitable.

[Croney]

195. Thank goodness the yeah-yeah-yeah craze is waning.

Two people in my family, different generations, fell victim. Once I made them notice it, they stopped. How did "yes" or "ok" become yeah-yeah-yeah?!

[Thekaspervote]

197. Hey... this isnt any different than dissing boomers or Genx QUIT IT!

[radius777]

201. All generations intentionally annoy others

as part of the process of defining their "tribal identity" and expressing what is unique about themselves and the era in which they come of age.

The 90's were 'dope' and 'kickin', the 80's were 'rad' and 'righteous', 60's/70's were 'far out' and 'groovy'...

that said, the Millennial slang most annoying is 'literally', it has no redeeming quality.

Millennial overuse of 'super' as an adjective - ie 'this test is SUPER hard' used to annoy me, but now doesn't... same with starting sentences with 'so'... it clearly is just a way to find a start point/organize one's thoughts.

[rownesheck]

202. Ending a statement sentence

with what sounds like a question. For instance, "i wouldn't say i like cheese whiz on my ribeye steak?"

That sentence should end with a period, so say it that way!!!!

[superpatriotman]

206. Pronouncing 'T's' as 'D's'

Example:

important pronounced impordand or button as budden

Infuriating! or infuriading

[Blues Heron]

210. good one

definite peeve

[robbob]

208. No one mentioned the expression My bad?

Maybe it’s fallen out of use a bit but that one grates on my ears!

“My bad...”

No, you’re stupid!

[Skittles]

214. I work with millenials, have not heard that

[Jspur]

219. As one of the early millennialls

that was born in the the early 80's this thread cracked me up. I have to admit I'm guilty of starting sentences with you know, and so. I never figured starting off sentences with "So" or "You know" was a generation thing. Also I'm guilty of using the word "literally" a lot to describe things. Another phrase I like to use a lot is "to be honest".

[obamanut2012]

221. This OP is rather appalling

I work with Millennials every day, all day, and they are great kids, smart kids.

Post this stuff in the Lounge, if you have to.

on edit: I am an old Gen Xer.

[OxQQme]

224. Disappearing Idioms

Dad: "Hey kids, this weekend we’re going to visit nana and grandpa."
The Eldest: "Wow. Peachy keen. We can hardly wait."

By the 1920s and 30s “Close, but no cigar!” had become so familiar that it appeared in news accounts regarding political races, sports events and other win/lose situations far from the midway.

In Cahoots ( describes perfectly the current state of affairs)
…To be in a secret partnership with an individual, group or enterprise, usually with the aim of being up to no good.

Hunky Dory
Hunky dory is a slang term used to describe a situation, event, or condition as just right and good. It is a sunny, happy expression, mostly applied to everyday happenings.

http://disappearingidioms.com/23-skidoo/