Mom incessantly insults millennials, discovers 'millennial' doesn't mean a lazy, pathetic, entitled person: 'She called a 80-ish year old lady at her church a millennial'

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
May 7, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

What does it mean to be a boomer? Those of us who still care about numbers, math, and time would say that a person born between 1946-1964 is a baby boomer, but that is not the sole definition. Many Zoomers refer to any person they consider old, whether they're a member of the Silent Generation, Gen X, or even millennials, as boomers. In 2019, the phrase "Okay, Boomer." reached the heights of popularity via a wild viral TikTok, and ever since, the definition of the word boomer has never been the same. 

That shift in meaning begs the question: if "boomer" means an old person, can "millennial" mean an entitled person? That is at least what one mom thought when she complained incessantly about millennials in front of her millennial children. When they explained to her that millennial is a term that solely describes a generation, the insults stopped coming. 

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  • 01
    1981-1996 r/Millennials Join u/borrowedbraincells. 2d Mum's definition of millennial explained her rants but was so wrong Discussion
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 02
    Mum went through a period of going into cruel rants about millennials which never really made sense. One day after a 20+ min word vomit my sister quietly said 'we're millennials Mum.' Mum responded that she wouldn't call us millennials actually and scoffed as if it was a dumb thing to say.
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 03
    So I asked her what one was. She said a millennial was a lazy, pathetic, entitled person who refused to work for anything but demanded it was given to them. She went into more detail too but that was the gist.
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 04
    I asked if they were confined to a specific age. She said no, you could have very old millennials and very young, no specific age group. She called a 80-ish year old lady at her church one as proof.
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 05
    My sister told her that a millennial is someone who grew up over the millennium years and experienced the massive change of technology. I think she defined it like started childhood in one tech lifestyle, ended it in a completely different technological lifestyle and gave the general years of birth.
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 06
    Mum disagreed and sister pointed out how post war baby boom babies have a generation name due to the unique experience they had growing up, just like millennials whereas no-one else really does/did. Mum must have looked it up at home that night cause suddenly she was posting informative stuff on Facebook and has stopped ranting since.
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 07
    Ever since then though whenever I hear people going off about millennials I want to ask them the same question. I'm so curious if it has lost the 'tether' to us for them as well. Does anyone else have similar experiences?
    via u/borrowedbraincells
  • 08
    Sweaty_Process_3794 • 2d This is hilarious. But I think it explains a lot more of the millennial-hate than most people realize Reply 1.8k
    via u/Sweaty_Process_3794
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    borrowedbraincells OP.2d It definitely made us feel a lot better! Now I tend to feel more curious when I hear hate and I can laugh at how silly they sound using big words wrong AA 396
    via u/borrowedbraincells
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    Hulk_is_Dumb . 2d Millennial Engineer Good job on rolling and smoking your mom Though rather than the explanation of starting life in one era of tech and ending in another (while not an incorrect explanation isn't really relevant per se), the easiest way to say it (similar to how your sister did), people who were coming-of-age at the turn of the millennium. 206
    via u/Hulk_is_Dumb
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    borrowedbraincells OP.2d You're right, that is a much easier way to say it. She may have said something similar tbf since she had to explain so many different ways. I was trying not to laugh for most of it so I may only remember the desperation. I was stuck on an 80 year old being one of us for a very long time ✰ 105
    via u/borrowedbraincells
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    ZealousidealTurn2211.1d I had this same conversation with my uncle. He was ranting about how millennials are entitled and don't want to work etc. "Just to be clear, who do you think are millennials" "People cousin's age (I think cousin was 15 at the time)." "I'm a millennial and he isn't. I'm 30." ↑ 57
    via u/ZealousidealTurn2211
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    tahlyn • 1d . As far as most boomers are concerned, Millennials are 15-25 years old... and they've been 15-25 years old for the past 15-20 years... because Boomers can't seem to accept that time moves on, things change, and people grow older. They're quite stuck in the past. 25
    via u/tahlyn
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    Hulk_is_Dumb • 2d Millennial Engineer Its kind of the same as boomers using "woke" or whatever.... Instead of it meaning awareness of social and systemic issues, they use it "primarily" in reference to identity politics and anti- establishment rhetoric. Not 100% inaccurate but a tad disingenuous to the implication. ... 56
    via u/Hulk_is_Dumb
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    milksteakofcourse • 2d Yeah I had a buddy that complained about millennials and participation trophies. Really his day up when I pointed out both he and I were millennials and I distinctly remember the two of us playing on a ymca league soccer team together which gave out participation trophies. People are stupid ... Reply 369
    via u/milksteakofcourse
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    PM_ME_CAT_POOCHES 2d • As if the literal children were the ones pushing for participation trophies lol 221
    via u/PM_ME_CAT_POOCHES
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    TJ_Rowe 1d • As someone who received a lot of participation trophies for coming in dead last place in crosscountry running (it was my sister's sport, I had the choice of running or freezing), it always felt like a kick while I was down. Like, you come in last and they say, "better luck next time!" and you can focus on being gracious about it. They give you a trophy and blow smoke up your becauseyou came Fifth!! (out of five), and you have to thank them and stand there next to the winners for the
    via u/TJ_Rowe
  • 18
    Unfortunately peanutbutter! Razzzle Dazzzle86 • 2d Young gen Z's already calling us Boomers, so yeah for some it's probably whatever fits their point of view ... Reply 244
    via u/RazzzleDazzzle86
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    mojitz • 2d I could definitely see "boomer" becoming common shorthand for someone old and out of touch in a way that entirely outlasts the current generations. 168
    via u/mojitz
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    stve688 2d I've definitely dealt with people to similar thinking as your mom. I had someone argue with me that I wasn't a millennial and it confused the for about 15 minutes. out of me Reply 83
    via u/stve688
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    borrowedbraincells OP.2d Yea that would be confusing as it's really interesting how words get different meanings to people. It creates some weird communication gaps. Kinda glad you've experienced the same thinking from people too and it wasn't just mum though 19
    via u/borrowedbraincells
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ok boomer millennial boomer entitlement kids lazy millennials millenials misunderstanding millenial baby boomers boomers entitled pathetic Reddit entitled people
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