The baby boom generation was born between 1946 and 1964, now playfully or not so playfully referred to as boomers by the younger generations. If you want to communicate with a boomer, you’ll need to know their lingo. Read on to find 19 phrases that prove you’re a boomer.
“What’s on the ‘boob tube’?”
Television became mainstream while boomers were growing up. Though you may think they were referring to what’s on Cinemax, the term boob was commonly used to describe a silly person.
“Don’t flip your wig.”
We might hear someone say, “Don’t lose your head” or “Don’t lose your cool” these days. In Boomer, this is the expression used to tell someone not to lose their temper or get overly excited.
“What’s your bag?”
Honestly, this should be brought back on dating apps because “What do you do for fun?” gets old and quite honestly leaves most people anxious, realizing how boring they are. This phrase is used to ask about someone’s interests or occupation in a slightly less obvious, to us, way.
“Groovy”
“That’s just groovy, baby,” in my best Austin Powers voice. Most of us should know that “groovy” was an expression meaning something was cool in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Buzz off”
No, it isn’t a cute robot telling you they’re turning their “buzz” from drinks tonight off. This used to be the way to tell someone to go away and not come back.
“Lay it on me.”
This was the Boomer way of telling someone to talk. Whether it’s delivering bad news or telling a story, “lay it on me” is your cue to open up; they’re listening.
“The skinny”
Pour me the tea, all of it. We love some gossip, and this is not new to our generation. The skinny phrase stems from military slang during World War II.
“Threads”
This one gets down to the bare bones of it. Clothes are made of threads, and outfits are made of clothes; therefore, outfits must be threads. It’s science. Honestly, it makes more sense than “drip,” or maybe I just aged myself.
“On cloud nine”
This 1950s phrase means to be euphoric or extremely happy. The literal meaning of ‘cloud nine’ is from an early scientific classification system for clouds. ‘Cloud Nine’ was what we now call ‘cumulonimbus’. It was chosen for the metaphor because it’s a very soft, fluffy-looking cloud.
“Cool cat”
Cool Cat seems to have become popular in the late ‘50s. It has the vibe of a dark club with jazz music playing. This makes sense because, according to the article Birth of the Cool, ‘cool cat’ was a jazz term in the ‘40s.
“Square”
Squares are even on all sides. Completely predictable. Which, I guess, is uncool, boring, and dull. This was also a phrase that came out of the 1940s jazz scene. Though originally, it was meant to describe people who were not hip to the latest music trends.
“Moo juice”
I’m using this from now on to let people know I would like milk from a cow instead of an almond, oat, coconut, or other milk alternative. As you can guess, ‘moo juice’ was a playful way of asking for milk that was coined in the 1940s.
“Catch some z’s”
You’ve seen the emoji of the little head with “zzz” coming from its head; we all know this represents sleep. One can assume the “z” is supposed to represent the hum of a soft snore. When a boomer is done for the night, they love to tell you they need to “go catch some z’s.”
“A gas”
One Word a Day says, “Gas, as in the sense of enjoyment, is first recorded in print in 1839 when Charles Dickens coined the expression ‘everything is gas and gaiters.’ James Joyce then used it at the turn of the 20th century for something that was funny or frivolous.”
“Lay a patch.”
“Let’s burn some rubber” would be a more commonly understood term for the younger generations. This term refers to leaving a patch of rubber on the road by accelerating a car quickly from a standstill. No, it’s not an environmentally or economically sound hobby.
“Living the dream”
When your co-worker says, “Livin’ the dream,” they most certainly are not living their dream. The idea comes from the ideal of the “American Dream,” and the phrase became popular in the 1980s.
“Boys will be boys”
You might still hear this from your mom when you tell her a little boy pulled your daughter’s hair on the playground, or your son got into a fight at recess. This one didn’t age well; gone are the days of excusing the bad behavior of boys and men with the justification that “boys will be boys.”
“It is what it is.”
C’est la vie; that’s life. Another phrase for the disenchantment with life of the baby boomer generation, millennials get this. “It is what it is” was, and still is, widely used when a situation isn’t going your way but there isn’t anything to be done about it.
“Pull yourself up by the bootstraps”
When life is what it is, you’ve got to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and shoot for the dream. This phrase is meant to inspire someone to come back from setbacks and put in the work. Inspired by bootstrapping, which once meant an impossible task, at least fixing your situation on your own isn’t impossible.
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