[Ads-l] OK Boomer

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Sat Nov 16 18:13:10 UTC 2019


To be precise, Gen Zers and young millennials prefer uncomma'ed *and*
uncapitalized "ok boomer." The New York Times piece by Taylor Lorenz that
spurred the latest media frenzy got this right (at least in the text of the
article, if not the online headline):

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/style/ok-boomer.html

On Sat, Nov 16, 2019 at 12:37 PM Ben Yagoda <byagoda at udel.edu> wrote:

> Given that I am sometimes known as The Comma Maven, it’s not surprising
> that what most interests is that millennials favor the no-comma “OK
> Boomer,” while AARP kicks it old school with “OK, millennials.” They are
> probably still starting off emails with “Hi, [friend’s name]."
>
> Ben
>
> www.benyagoda.com
>
> > On Nov 15, 2019, at 6:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system <
> LISTSERV at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> wrote:
> >
> > Date:    Thu, 14 Nov 2019 16:36:27 -0500
> > From:    ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM <mailto:
> adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>>
> > Subject: Re: OK Boomer
> >
> > Here is an instance of the inevitable attempt to craft a clapback "OK,
> > millennials".
> >
> > Article: The Boomers' media behemoth
> > Author: Sara Fischer
> > Date on website: Nov 12, 2019
> >
> https://www.axios.com/the-boomers-media-behemoth-412b5106-f879-477d-806d-6130148956bf.html
> <
> https://www.axios.com/the-boomers-media-behemoth-412b5106-f879-477d-806d-6130148956bf.html
> >
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > AARP, formerly known as The American Association of Retired Persons,
> > is one of the largest media companies in the country, bringing in more
> > than $174 million annually in media-based advertising revenue,
> > according to public filings.
> >
> > "OK, millennials. But we're the people that actually have the money,"
> > Myrna Blyth, senior vice president and editorial director of AARP
> > Media, said in an interview with Axios, referencing the popular "OK,
> > boomer" tagline that youngsters are using to poke fun at older people
> > online.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
>
>

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