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<div>At 12:30 PM -0500 3/30/01, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>The well-known "early" example
of _Generation X_ apart from<br>
the name of a punk band in 1977 (featuring Billy Idol) is<br>
as the title of 1964 pop-sociology book about disaffected<br>
youth in Britain.<br>
<br>
It is quite possible, though, that a certain historical<br>
dictionary is sitting on an early 1950s example that will<br>
be publicized in due course.<br>
<br>
I would also ask Larry to qualify his "the actual generation<br>
in question (however defined)," since _Generation X_ is often<br>
felt to refer specifically to the post-baby-boom generation,<br>
and thus an example referring to disaffected youth who are<br>
not part of the U.S. post-baby-boom generation may not</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>count for his purpose.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>Right, it wouldn't. My "(however defined)" was
intended to allow some wiggle-room about the start- and finish-date
and geography, but no more than such wiggle-room. I was
wondering about the first cite that uses "Generation
X" in the sense corresponding to the AHD4 entry--</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"The generation following the post-World War II baby boom,
especially people born</div>
<div> in the United States and Canada from the early 1960s to
the late 1970s. "</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>--with the incorrect attribution "After<i> Generation
X,</i> a novel by Douglas Coupland (born 1961), Canadian
writer". It's clear from the Nexis cites in the
mid-to-late 1980's that the label was already extant before the
appearance of Coupland's novel in 1991. Coupland,
however, may well have popularized the label and expanded its
distribution, not a negligible role in historical lexicography (cf.
Wayne & Garth re retro-NOT).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>larry,</div>
<div>who just realized today that he's the father of two Gen Y-ers
and who is now wondering when the official transition to Gen Z took,
or will take, place</div>
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