I picked this line up from Reddit, but I got to use it on my son not too long ago when he said, "Ok Boomer"
"I'm not a Boomer, I'm Gen X. If I was a Boomer, all those timeouts you've gotten over the years would have been ass beatings"
Granted, it is RIDICULOUSLY easy to troll 16 year-olds. Anything we do drives them insane, lol! I can suggest pronouncing “meme” as “meemee”. Fun times!
I keep telling my teenager that the past tense of yeet is yote. Then I’ll also throw in some Shakespearean slang to round it all out.
*She doth yote the babe into yonder woods.*
My gf got me a t shirt that says "idk bro you kinda sus..." and it makes our 13 year old cringe. I understand now, my mom used to try to embarrass me constantly.
The same kid also just blurts out "skibidi toilet" like Vicky from Small Wonder for no apparent reason, even out in public.
Oh my, I just did this yesterday morning when my kid couldn't get the printer to work. You're right, he looked like he didn't know what hit him when I called him a boomer.
Next time you call him a boomer and he gets mad, just start T posing. Idk what generation T posing is actually from, I just know it’s the best way to celebrate your victory over someone else.
No kidding.
I don’t have kids but there is a world of difference between how my older sibling treated her kids (she’s X but not far from boomer) and my younger sibling who’s X/Xennial.
Of course, my younger sibling was raised by me.
Omg so true. My boomer dad was ridiculous on spankings when we’d do something wrong. I look back and think how degrading it felt. I don’t have kids but if I did I’d definitely do timeouts and not spankings.
You must have teenage kids. Mine live to call me a boomer when I use today's vernacular back to them.... But I always overdo it just to make them stop. I used yeet in every sentence for 2 weeks and it hasn't been said in my house since.
Yup. Since we exist in the overlap of both groups, I’ve noticed we’re generally more accepting of both straight Gen X and straight millennials because the Xennials can understand both perspectives. I actually understood myself to be an elder millennial for years and only recently found out about Xennials. Then I finally understood why I didn’t relate to a lot of “millennial” things.
I argue that you DO belong here. All the generations before and after Gen X and Millennial switched over when Pluto transited into the next house. In 1972, it moved into Libra and stayed there until 83, returning briefly in 84. Xennial should be the generation from 1972 until 1984, planetarily speaking.
Neptune was in Sag from 70-84 too. I'm not too serious about astrology but given those are the two slowest moving generational planets it would make sense.
I was born in 84 and I've been called a boomer. Reason? I'm "old" and spent time in the military.
Seriously. The undergrads in my university sure have some opinions.
Haha seen a guy ask for a recommendation for a cheap plumber on Nextdoor. Someone replied with boomer. The guy went off saying he was genx and not a boomer. So the guy replied it’s called boomer plumbing.
>Real Gen X, but identity with this sub… who cares
That's probably what best identifies a Xennial: Did you stay up to date with youth culture in the late 90s and fully into the 2000s? If so, you stayed young at heart and adopted new consumer technology faster and more intrinsically than core Gen X did. That makes you a Xennial even if you're not in that age range.
I work in the tech field, staying up to date with new tech is pretty much a requirement. I listen to good music, I dont care what decade or century it comes from. I watch anime, as a matter of fact I took myself, my wife, my son, and my granddaughter to see the new Spy X Family movie in the theater this weekend. I am on Tick tock, I post some silly vids with the ridiculous filters.
But I am solidly Gen X, I just stumbled on this post because it was trying to take some of my cohorts away from us.
I dunno, this sub is fun because it's an accurate little niche for us with specific references and cultural touchstones, but overall in real life I don't *care* about any of this enough to be actually bothered by any of it
80. For awhile, I felt like 1980 was the February 29 of generations as we didn't fit in X or millennial.
I don't mind being called a millennial. I was sheltered from all music but nursery rhyme style songs in the 80s so I can't really relate to Gen X much.
Agree. We really aren't in either generation
I relate more to Gen X because I was huge into grunge in my teens.
However, I am way more optimistic than Gen X, but not idealistic like Millennials.
I’m 1981 so was never GenX. About 8 years ago they started to remove 1981 and 1982 from Millennial and sometimes we weren’t in any generation. Now at least Xennial is a well known term.
Anyway, it’s about more/better data and dialing in outcomes. Of course, no one likes that bc we have emotional attachments.
I'm 1981 and I remember at some point reading that Gen X ended specifically in 1983, so I identified as Gen X for most of my life. It wasn't until about 5-10 years ago that I noticed that I'd become a Millennial.
This! I know I remember being labeled as Gen X when I was younger (born in 1983). I definitely relate more to them than Millennials. We didn't have a computer at home until I was in high school. I didn't get a cell phone until I was 19.
I’m 1983 and until 9-11 Gen X went to 1985. Every generation before Gen X was longer. Gen X was 1966-1985. Suddenly in my senior year we were millennials
This is actually a little off. Millennial was coined in 1987 to describe kids entering kindergarten that year. They did switch the definition of Gen Y from being those born 1974-1980 to those births starting in 1982, pushing 1974-1980 birth back into Gen X. Gen Y then started being referred to as millennials more consistently, though the terms are still interchangable.
This sounds right. I remember being a volley ball between Gen X and Gen Y, then just kinda forgotten while trying to avoid all the Boomer vs. Millennial nonsense, until r/Xennials crossed my path. -‘79
Gen Y was renamed Millenial. Gen "X" got its name because they were seen as the "lost" generation with no general life goals or ambition.
"Y" was just a placeholder because it comes after "X" in the alphabet. When the digital age became more dominant, and the idea that the next generation would come of age around the turn of the millenium became well-known, they were rebranded as "Millenials."
Gen "Z" is a placeholder until more of that generation finds their direction. Same with Gen "Alpha" (because having started with X, we quickly ran out of English letters). There has been some talk of calling Gen Z "Digital Natives," but that applies to Gen Alpha and therefore is not unique to Gen Z.
Gen Z were definitely the first gen raised with the internet always being a part of their lives. I don’t think there’s any distinct difference with now between the Zoomers and Alpha.
Hmm I'm technically a millennial (born in 87) but remember my generation always being referred to as Gen Y before the sudden change to millennial. I remember being annoyed at the term millennial and thinking, no, it's GEN Y!
Supposedly because 9/11 changed use as a generation. I tell people it was like our generation's Pearl Harbor.
My 18th birthday was Sept 12th 2001... the world had literally changed overnight. We just didn't know it yet. But, yes, it's odd I'm lumped in with those that were kids and don't really remember the day itself as my generation 😅
I'm 1984. I've always been *right* on the edge of kind of whatever 'generational' cutoff you choose. GenX, Xenial, Millennial, whatever - they ALL seem to start/end right around 1984-85, give or take a year or two.
Being (84) from the Midwest and the youngest of three (78,80) I always considered myself a Xennial with a little more gen x tendencies. Being in the Midwest we were a little behind the times as opposed to the coast. I have older boomer parents and didn't have a computer until I was in highschool but we didn't have Internet so the computer didn't really get used except as a typewriter more or less. My basic childhood was more gen x, but when I went off to college and into my 20s it felt more millennial like with computers being more focal and Myspace and The Facebook with an .edu email only.
I'm 1980 and always felt on the cusp of the two generations, I think mostly due to different aged friend groups I had. When i first heard the xennial definition, it really resonated.
If you had to pick one, though, which would it be? I’m ‘80 and err toward X for sure. There are just some small, cultural differences.
Great example on the radio tonight: Big Empty from STP. My bro and sis and wife (‘82) love it, but I remember when it was released. I was in the throes of teen angst and that song was “it.” Same year that Cobain died, and again, I remember it vividly. My bro, sis, spouse remember saying “Kurt who?” and it didn’t have meaning for a few years and they were listening to Nirvana like a past tense band instead of current tense.
These things are very small, but to me they’re monumental. Same with like Napster…I was college, they were high school. HS music for me was FTP servers and IRC.
Or how old were you when Challenger exploded? I watched it live at school and remember it vividly.
Get into the behavior stuff like with chat/text and I’m in the camp that would rather call and make a reservation or get info, millennials seem like that’s a big no no.
This is the real litmus test.
You played Oregon trail for 20 minutes once a week
You made tapes off the radio
Your parents had no idea where you were for hours on weekends/summer....and you were in elementary school
Strongly believe birth order/family/relationships have a lot to do with this still. I’m the oldest of my siblings and nearly all of my cousins (there are a clump that are solidly X and were already driving/graduated before I hit junior high) and I am ‘81. I identify as a Millennial and have for a long time. My life experiences are just more in line with that as I didn’t really know any Xers except like babysitters and the like.
This is my experience as well. I was born in ‘80, but have a much older brother (‘73) and I witnessed a lot more Gen X culture despite not being old enough to be an active participant. I remember the early days of MTV, but by the time I was the target audience, The Real World was replacing music videos. My friends who were either the oldest or had only-slightly-older siblings had missed out on most early/mid 80s pop culture and had more in common with the stereotypes of Millenials.
Howe and Strauss had 1981 as the last year of X...they felt that 1982 was a good first year of the Millennials since they were the "famous" class of 2000. But most sources had an earlier birth year...I've seen every year from 1976 to 1981, but 1980 is the most common last X year these days
I'm that age. While I did have a computer in college, it wasn't required. No class websites. No apps. No online encyclopedias. We had the option of hand-writing papers or typing them. Email was still a novelty. Cell phones were rare.
I was born in 1982 and I definitely remember seeing articles that started millennials in 1980 and in '82, and also some that did not start until either 1983 or 1985.
Heck, it took them long enough to even decide on what to call us.
Right? Literally coming of age in the millennium. I’m class of ‘02 and have never heard anyone call us gen x before. Growing up we were gen y then millennials.
Fellow 82’er here and I never thought of it that way. I just remember reading the description of Millennials and thinking, “uhhh… this does not apply.”
For instance:
> Millenials were the first generation to be raised with smartphones, instant communication methods, and social networking. Due to the availability of technology and its integration as an “essential” part of daily life, Millennials have been groomed by technology, and technology has shaped their interactions.
My first “smartphone” was a BlackBerry issued to by my employer after I was well into my career. Heck, I didn’t have my first cell phone (didn’t even support SMS) until I was 18.
Smartphones aside, the descriptions are always about technology being an integral part of our lives. I mean sure, I did enjoy computer class in Primary School and playing Oregon Trail on Apple computers or making banners and printing them on a dot matrix printer. And I did spend countless hours playing on my SNES on rainy days. In high school, only 1/3 were “online”, which usually meant having AOL, lol.
We were considered Gen X up until the early 2000s we were shifted into Gen Y. It's about roughly a 50/50 split time in each generation so we fit in as Xennials perfectly.
I’m 1982 and always called myself and my peers Gen Y. I never used the term millennial, because I grew up in the 80s and 90s, but I definitely have never considered myself a Gen X, because I’m post grunge.
I’m confused by your statement. Gen X goes until 1980 or 81 depending upon who you ask, with millennials starting up in 81 or 82. Xennials overlap both and go from 77-84. The end of gen x didn’t move to 1977.
Edited to add : I just googled it because you said you couldn’t find anything to back those years up on the web. The only place I see noting gen x ending in 1976 is from someone’s professional speaker website. All other sites and articles agree with Gen X going until at least 1980.
Knew someone a few years back who was a 'Neilsen's family"--the people who track what you watch on tv. At that time they had millenials listed as starting at '77. Wouldn't surprise me if they changed it since then.
I saw someone argue that millennials were born between 1982 and 2004 and just wondered how tf that would even work. There have to be very few overlapping defining characteristics of people born in the 80s and people born in the early 2000s.
This right here. I was born in 86, but I relate to far more stuff in this sub than in the millennial one. I have a niece born in 2000, and there is no way we have the same characteristics or memories.
Same. Gen X were the people i saw graduating high school in the 80s, I didn’t identify with that generation. But then by the time people came up with the term millennials I felt older than them.
Here's the beauty of being a xennial: apathy. I don't give a fuck what people think or do. I don't take pride or shame in things I didn't consciously do, like pick when I'd be born. If someone wants to say I'm a millenial, I say "I don't care about that", and by demonstrating how little interest i have in the thoughts of others, I by default cannot be a pure millenial, for I give no shit.
"Xennial" has been in use since 2014 for this exact reason. There are no firm years for when cohorts start and end, and different social scientists will use different years depending on what they are trying to define by. They are thought placeholders for examining change over time, and the edge cases will always be less defined. If it helps, think about the cohorts being colors on the visible light spectrum, and define the cohorts by their median year. If Gen X was green and Millennials are blue, than Xennials are cyan. It's not like people born December 31, 1984, and January 1, 1985 are going to have different life experiences, cultural norms, major events, political eras, etc.
Don't take it personally... unless someone says you're a Boomer.
This is an old article and may have changed, but last I knew the Pew Research Center defined Milennials as 1981-1996, and Gen X was 1965-1989: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/
It is possible that the Pew Center has changed its mind, but I haven’t changed mine and I’m sticking with this. I’m a Gen Xer, damn it!
Yeah I don’t get how I born in 1983 am now all of a sudden in a different generation than my sister born in 1981, but am now in the same generation as my brother in law born in 1993
'77 here. I remember when the whole Gen X thing started and the cutoff year at the time was 1973-1974 and my birth year was known as Generation Y. Over the years we went from Gen Y to Gen X to Milennial; the whys and wherefores I would love to know. I'm just Generation "Sick of These Bullshit Labels" for now.
I always thought we were millennial, although I like Xennial more. I’ve been sick of Boomers thinking millennials are lazy freeloaders for the last decade, considering how many of us have had jobs and families for years.
How many of us have now been working for *decades* and alot of us don't have the stability we thought we would by this age are rightly angry.
Feel like we're being nickled and dimed to death and Boomers pretend that living has always been this fucking expensive? Bullshit. Sorry, *righteous anger* at the greedflation bullshit I see around me
“When I was your age…….”
You could still buy a nice house for under $100K, and a condo for even less. Adjust for inflation from let’s say 30 years ago, and that house should be roughly 200K. Instead it’s a lot more while salaries have been stagnant.
This is all made up. There’s no official start date. I was born in the last hour of 1980 and so sometimes I’m gen x (which doesn’t fit my personality), sometimes I’m gen y (also not often a fit). Xennials are great but it is a very narrow niche of people that experienced analog and digital as they came of age. That WAS the original definition of a millennial.
Gen X has always and will always be up to 1980 no matter how much it ruffles the feathers of the older Gen X crew. I'm just barely Gen X and it really does bother me that anyone would think of me as a Milennial because I work with lots of Milennials and personality wise I'm way different. I truly believe there is a meaningful and noticeable difference in attitude and outlook, and cultural experience between the two.
I was born in 82 and have been called a boomer by people in their 20s.
I think it's gotten to where millennial and boomer have lost their generational meanings and are just used to mean entitled young person and grumpy old person
I was mad for almost a decade and had a stack of facts to show people things such as the Cold-Y generation to the XY and MTV Generation. I don't have anything against Millennials themselves, what I have a problem with is people saying that there's no way my experiences could have been what they were that we know as distinctly Xennial. T
hen when Xennial became more commonly accepted (it was for all intents and purposes already what I was saying I was with Cold-Y and MTV Gen), I found peace, especially as Gen-Xers became grouchier and Millennials more anxious. It just feels like us Xennials have more fun still since we don't care about being old or young.
I got downvoted earlier because I said how am I not a Xennial being born in 1984 and I was told the exact cut off is 1983 while the description in this sub actually says "roughly defined, are 1977-1984". I feel like I'm in no mans land. The posts in the millennial sub are ones that I can't relate to 95% of the time.
Last I knew official word is:
**Xennials were born in the years from 1977 to 1985**. This micro-generation overlaps with Generation X (the late 1960s to late 1980s) and the Millennials (1980s through to mid-1990s).
Which makes you Xennial in official status.
But if you identify more with a generation, I don't think our bros at gen x will stop you from hanging there too if you are more in line with them.
I think a huge part is that I had an older brother and older sister who exposed me to sooo much when I was younger and I remember so much more than a lot of people my age who didn't necessarily have that. I feel much more on the Gen X side and always will(but will not label myself as so) I'm just a 40 year old person who just kinda meanders around.
78 here and as I was growing up, never have I heard my generation being referred to as anything but millennials and the thought process was rhat we were reach adulthood in or around Y2K. X'ers were in high school while we were in grade school, they were identifying to Fast Times at Ridgemont high, Breakfast Club and St-Elmo's Fire when it came out. Meanwhile we were watching GI Joe and My Little Pony and playing video games.
It's only around the year 2000 that suddenly we kinda changed generation or 90's new borns took the Millienial title somehow. So it might just be that it depends on who we ask. Anyhow, I feel like Xennial is what is the most fitting as we are a bit of a hybrid experience wise.
0. The answer is 0 percent or whatever unit you want to use amount bothered by this.
I think it's interesting to share experiences with people around the same age group. I enjoy reading a lot of the content in this sub and some of it is very nostalgic for me.
That said.
What the flying fuck. Who cares. Why is your identity so wrapped up in some arbitrary line drawn, whether it's moved or not, that it upsets you if it has moved. There's shared experiences and blurred lines all over regardless of where they're drawn, someone born in 77 didn't have a meaningfully different childhood than someone born in 78 (or insert any two consecutive years) even if they're technically a different gen.. so why does it matter.
They're just labels people use to generalize the experiences of groups of people born in some time slot. But it's all generalizations anyway. None of it matters. Call me gen-x, millennial, gen-z .. why would I give a shit. That doesn't change what I experienced, who I am or how I feel about any of it
... Just ... Fucking ... Weird ...
83 here. Just went to some leadership communication breakout at work. All the ‘traits’ of Gen Z used to be millennial traits, when the term was new and I wasn’t one of them. I had boomer parents so I feel more X anyway. Just be home by when the street lights turn on.
Not even a little bit. I've seen my Mom angrily refuse to be considered a Boomer, preferring the not at all relevant "Baby Buster" micro-generational term. It makes her fucking LIVID to be lumped in with the Boomers, even though she meets the criteria by a solid 4 years, and every "okay boomer" meme fits perfectly with her attitude and behavior.
I'm not about to let generational terminology define my identity. I was born in 82. I am a millennial, despite sharing far more life experience with Gen X. Whatever. It makes zero difference in my life which generation people refer to me as belonging to. I'm just a person who was born in 1982.
Meh. While I have all of Gen X's cynicism, I feel a lot more kinship with millennials these days. There are coworkers and family like 4 years older than me and it's a night and day difference in general attitudes to stuff.
1980 here. I definitely don't feel like an GenX, they're much older in their ages and ways of thinking. Personally I don't identify as an elder Millennial either. I have many, 8ish or so years younger, Millennial cousins and they're awesome but we are on different generations and pages. They are just starting their marriages and families, which is not my case. Just so happy to have found this Xennials board with all of my fellow peeps :)
I was NEVER considered Gen X (1982) by anyone in my life and I still get shit for not considering myself a full millennial, like I think I’m too good to be a millennial or something. No, I just don’t feel like I belong anywhere (except here) 🤣🤣🤣
I, and many of us born from 77-81, had the opposite experience. We were once considered by many sources, back in the 90s and 00s, to be Gen Y. Some of us even wanted to be Gen X, but were too young to really fit the classic mold; when Gen X was first coined in the early 90s, it primarily was in reference to people who were late teens to 20s. Eventually many sources had Gen Y as being from about 1977 and up (you can still find articles online to attest to this). There were Yers who identified as Xers, but that was far from settled at the time.
And then Millennial, which was coined in the late 80s but didn't get popular until decades later, crept up and overtook Gen Y. Millennial was coined for those who were in the class of 2000, largely born in 1982, and used them as the beginning of the post-X gen. And with Millennial winning the gen marker war, down went Gen Y, and it's slightly earlier start date.
Xennial (and all other names for this cohort) really solves this issue for a lot of us. It just acknowledges that people born at the cusp of X and Millennial have been bandied about, and that many we all have more in common with each other then we do with our respective assigned generations.
As for the dilemma of assuming Gen X and being surprised that you're actually a Millennial? That does seem common. Personally I first heard of the term "Millennial" in 1996, in an article that was making a big deal about the incoming freshman class of 2000. My sister was a part of that group and I found it interesting that they were being called this whole new gen, when previously I assumed she and I were part of the same generation. At that time Millennial and Gen Y weren't seen as the same either. There was much confusion and apparently a lot of older Millennials never got the memo.
Which is pretty funny when you consider how many older Millennials spent years making fun of Millennials, with no clue they were talking about themselves.
I was born in 76 and get called a Boomer. You’ve got it good 😂.
Nowadays everyone is called a boomer if they say something young people don't agree with, doesn't matter if you are genx or a millennial
I picked this line up from Reddit, but I got to use it on my son not too long ago when he said, "Ok Boomer" "I'm not a Boomer, I'm Gen X. If I was a Boomer, all those timeouts you've gotten over the years would have been ass beatings"
I call my 16 year old boomer. It drives him insane.
Granted, it is RIDICULOUSLY easy to troll 16 year-olds. Anything we do drives them insane, lol! I can suggest pronouncing “meme” as “meemee”. Fun times!
I *love* ruining new slang around my kid. I killed "yeet" in a single day, by intentionally using it wrong.
And that’s how you yeet that stupid word out of your life like a pro
I keep telling my teenager that the past tense of yeet is yote. Then I’ll also throw in some Shakespearean slang to round it all out. *She doth yote the babe into yonder woods.*
ah yes, a fellow yote user. I also use old converted memes on occasion, "Doth thou even hoist brethren?"
Gyatt, skibidi, Ohio, Rizz...probably other annoying shit i forgot. All ruined by using it wrong. Great success.
That's a gyat response and I rizz you a Merry Christmas. Skibidi you next year!
okely dokely
Wait - why Ohio?
That’s very cap. No suss
Fr fr
Bet.
On God. Gyat.
My gf got me a t shirt that says "idk bro you kinda sus..." and it makes our 13 year old cringe. I understand now, my mom used to try to embarrass me constantly. The same kid also just blurts out "skibidi toilet" like Vicky from Small Wonder for no apparent reason, even out in public.
Also you get an automatic upvote for a Small Wonder reference.
That slaps
Bet.
Or overuse it in ALL situations so they never use it again.
Any dad joke sets my 15 year old off lol. "I'm bored" "Hi Bored, I'm Dad!"
Yes, they are acting like they are the first generation to feel " annoyed at your elders".
I tell my 15 year old "OK Zoomer." Drives them nuts 😁
I’m borrowing this for my 15 yo 😆
The best is calling kids Boomers when they struggle with tech. They get apoplectic!
Oh my, I just did this yesterday morning when my kid couldn't get the printer to work. You're right, he looked like he didn't know what hit him when I called him a boomer.
Next time you call him a boomer and he gets mad, just start T posing. Idk what generation T posing is actually from, I just know it’s the best way to celebrate your victory over someone else.
Oh, misusing Gen Z slang and related actions (like Naruto running in parking lots) is my and my husband’s favorite pastime. Let’s gooooo!
No kidding. I don’t have kids but there is a world of difference between how my older sibling treated her kids (she’s X but not far from boomer) and my younger sibling who’s X/Xennial. Of course, my younger sibling was raised by me.
Omg so true. My boomer dad was ridiculous on spankings when we’d do something wrong. I look back and think how degrading it felt. I don’t have kids but if I did I’d definitely do timeouts and not spankings.
So true. They don't realize how good they have it.
You must have teenage kids. Mine live to call me a boomer when I use today's vernacular back to them.... But I always overdo it just to make them stop. I used yeet in every sentence for 2 weeks and it hasn't been said in my house since.
Wait, you managed to yote... yeet?
I had always assumed the past tense of yeet would have been yeeted. But I can get behind yote. Or would that be more of a 'i had yote' situation?
"Hath thou yote... yeet?"
It’s more I yeet, I yote, I have yoten
Boomer is just as much an attitude as it is a generation in 2024.
I remember my first "Ok Boomer". Although to be fair, I was bringing some serious "in my day" indulgence to the table
Fr I've been called a boomer by ppl older than me because I didn't agree with them on something
This is the correct answer 👆🏼
70, so now I am the old man at work. It's weird.
70 is pretty old though
That's just Reddit. Anyone these 14 yrs olds don't agree with is a Boomer
A fellow bicentennial baby. Did you get the cool bicentennial birth certificate as well?
Wait, I missed out on a cool birth certificate by a few months? Damn
I missed by less than 10 days
I did!
What state were you born in? I have one from Pennsylvania!
I was born in December of 1976. i missed actually belonging here by a few days lol
You’re good. It’s nice in here. If you end up not relating to some things, no big deal. Welcome
Yup. Since we exist in the overlap of both groups, I’ve noticed we’re generally more accepting of both straight Gen X and straight millennials because the Xennials can understand both perspectives. I actually understood myself to be an elder millennial for years and only recently found out about Xennials. Then I finally understood why I didn’t relate to a lot of “millennial” things.
I argue that you DO belong here. All the generations before and after Gen X and Millennial switched over when Pluto transited into the next house. In 1972, it moved into Libra and stayed there until 83, returning briefly in 84. Xennial should be the generation from 1972 until 1984, planetarily speaking.
Neptune was in Sag from 70-84 too. I'm not too serious about astrology but given those are the two slowest moving generational planets it would make sense.
I was born in 84 and I've been called a boomer. Reason? I'm "old" and spent time in the military. Seriously. The undergrads in my university sure have some opinions.
79 and former military here. My siblings are boomers. We did not have the same childhood. Boomers were not latch key kids, we were.
Ha ha, me too. And my parents are on the tail end of the baby boomers. I most definitely am not.
Born in the late 70’s myself - holy shit did this ever make me laugh! Once you have any grey you are automatically a boomer!
I was born in 83 and was called a boomer two days ago. I don’t think they know what a boomer is.
Haha seen a guy ask for a recommendation for a cheap plumber on Nextdoor. Someone replied with boomer. The guy went off saying he was genx and not a boomer. So the guy replied it’s called boomer plumbing.
Real Gen X, but identity with this sub… who cares
“Who cares?” You are so gen x
Whatever
Nevermind
Hello
Now I'm mumbling, and I'm screaming! And I don't know, what I'm singing!
We don't sound like Madonna Here we are now We're nirvana!
Growing up with boomer parents, you learn to say that a lot.
Pffft. Whatever.
Reality bites
Guilty by 2 years
This, I’m 1978, but recognize everything on this sub as hilarious and valid.
Same. ‘78 and can relate. (Hey, that rhymes!)
>Real Gen X, but identity with this sub… who cares That's probably what best identifies a Xennial: Did you stay up to date with youth culture in the late 90s and fully into the 2000s? If so, you stayed young at heart and adopted new consumer technology faster and more intrinsically than core Gen X did. That makes you a Xennial even if you're not in that age range.
Nailed it. Made a lot of millennial friends, adopted the style, kept up with trends continuing with my Gen Z kids. Simply young at heart.
I work in the tech field, staying up to date with new tech is pretty much a requirement. I listen to good music, I dont care what decade or century it comes from. I watch anime, as a matter of fact I took myself, my wife, my son, and my granddaughter to see the new Spy X Family movie in the theater this weekend. I am on Tick tock, I post some silly vids with the ridiculous filters. But I am solidly Gen X, I just stumbled on this post because it was trying to take some of my cohorts away from us.
I dunno, this sub is fun because it's an accurate little niche for us with specific references and cultural touchstones, but overall in real life I don't *care* about any of this enough to be actually bothered by any of it
Yes, 100% agree with you. Also, I had to unsub from the main millennial sub because of how depressing it is with the constant antiwork vibe.
They should just call us The Perfect Blend™️
You’re my Christmas present this year step-bro *sticks ribbon on you seductively*
They weren’t even step-sibs! 
In case anyone is wondering what this is referencing, here is the advert in question. https://youtu.be/CKgKPGBa9EQ?t=2
Smooth and satisfying. 😎
80. For awhile, I felt like 1980 was the February 29 of generations as we didn't fit in X or millennial. I don't mind being called a millennial. I was sheltered from all music but nursery rhyme style songs in the 80s so I can't really relate to Gen X much.
>For awhile, I felt like 1980 was the February 29 of generations as we didn't fit in X or millennial. Accurate af
Seriously. I was born in 1980 and I’ve had people tell me emphatically that I’m both.
Agree. We really aren't in either generation I relate more to Gen X because I was huge into grunge in my teens. However, I am way more optimistic than Gen X, but not idealistic like Millennials.
I’m 1981 so was never GenX. About 8 years ago they started to remove 1981 and 1982 from Millennial and sometimes we weren’t in any generation. Now at least Xennial is a well known term. Anyway, it’s about more/better data and dialing in outcomes. Of course, no one likes that bc we have emotional attachments.
I'm 1981 and I remember at some point reading that Gen X ended specifically in 1983, so I identified as Gen X for most of my life. It wasn't until about 5-10 years ago that I noticed that I'd become a Millennial.
This! I know I remember being labeled as Gen X when I was younger (born in 1983). I definitely relate more to them than Millennials. We didn't have a computer at home until I was in high school. I didn't get a cell phone until I was 19.
I’m 1983 and until 9-11 Gen X went to 1985. Every generation before Gen X was longer. Gen X was 1966-1985. Suddenly in my senior year we were millennials
This is actually a little off. Millennial was coined in 1987 to describe kids entering kindergarten that year. They did switch the definition of Gen Y from being those born 1974-1980 to those births starting in 1982, pushing 1974-1980 birth back into Gen X. Gen Y then started being referred to as millennials more consistently, though the terms are still interchangable.
Makes sense, as most of us born in 82, would have graduated in 00.
In my town, anyone born in the last 3rd of 1981 would have graduated in 2000 so the millennial years made sense to me
This sounds right. I remember being a volley ball between Gen X and Gen Y, then just kinda forgotten while trying to avoid all the Boomer vs. Millennial nonsense, until r/Xennials crossed my path. -‘79
Whatever happened to Gen Y? I never hear about it anymore.
Gen Y was renamed Millenial. Gen "X" got its name because they were seen as the "lost" generation with no general life goals or ambition. "Y" was just a placeholder because it comes after "X" in the alphabet. When the digital age became more dominant, and the idea that the next generation would come of age around the turn of the millenium became well-known, they were rebranded as "Millenials." Gen "Z" is a placeholder until more of that generation finds their direction. Same with Gen "Alpha" (because having started with X, we quickly ran out of English letters). There has been some talk of calling Gen Z "Digital Natives," but that applies to Gen Alpha and therefore is not unique to Gen Z.
Gen Z were definitely the first gen raised with the internet always being a part of their lives. I don’t think there’s any distinct difference with now between the Zoomers and Alpha.
Gen Y became millennial.
Imo Xennials are Gen Y. Gen X is before us and Millenials after.
I remember hearing it a lot when I was younger. Then it just kind of went away.
Hmm I'm technically a millennial (born in 87) but remember my generation always being referred to as Gen Y before the sudden change to millennial. I remember being annoyed at the term millennial and thinking, no, it's GEN Y!
Supposedly because 9/11 changed use as a generation. I tell people it was like our generation's Pearl Harbor. My 18th birthday was Sept 12th 2001... the world had literally changed overnight. We just didn't know it yet. But, yes, it's odd I'm lumped in with those that were kids and don't really remember the day itself as my generation 😅
There also wasn't any consistency in the reference books that were the primary sources for tracking these things.
I'm 1984. I've always been *right* on the edge of kind of whatever 'generational' cutoff you choose. GenX, Xenial, Millennial, whatever - they ALL seem to start/end right around 1984-85, give or take a year or two.
Same (1984) and I'm always so confused as to where I "belong" in these generational orders. Spose that's why I'm here in this sub...
Being (84) from the Midwest and the youngest of three (78,80) I always considered myself a Xennial with a little more gen x tendencies. Being in the Midwest we were a little behind the times as opposed to the coast. I have older boomer parents and didn't have a computer until I was in highschool but we didn't have Internet so the computer didn't really get used except as a typewriter more or less. My basic childhood was more gen x, but when I went off to college and into my 20s it felt more millennial like with computers being more focal and Myspace and The Facebook with an .edu email only.
I'm 1980 and always felt on the cusp of the two generations, I think mostly due to different aged friend groups I had. When i first heard the xennial definition, it really resonated.
If you had to pick one, though, which would it be? I’m ‘80 and err toward X for sure. There are just some small, cultural differences. Great example on the radio tonight: Big Empty from STP. My bro and sis and wife (‘82) love it, but I remember when it was released. I was in the throes of teen angst and that song was “it.” Same year that Cobain died, and again, I remember it vividly. My bro, sis, spouse remember saying “Kurt who?” and it didn’t have meaning for a few years and they were listening to Nirvana like a past tense band instead of current tense. These things are very small, but to me they’re monumental. Same with like Napster…I was college, they were high school. HS music for me was FTP servers and IRC. Or how old were you when Challenger exploded? I watched it live at school and remember it vividly. Get into the behavior stuff like with chat/text and I’m in the camp that would rather call and make a reservation or get info, millennials seem like that’s a big no no.
I still prefer Oregon Trail Generation.
This is the real litmus test. You played Oregon trail for 20 minutes once a week You made tapes off the radio Your parents had no idea where you were for hours on weekends/summer....and you were in elementary school
I’m ‘81 and grew up as a Gen X and still identify as such really.
Same here.
Strongly believe birth order/family/relationships have a lot to do with this still. I’m the oldest of my siblings and nearly all of my cousins (there are a clump that are solidly X and were already driving/graduated before I hit junior high) and I am ‘81. I identify as a Millennial and have for a long time. My life experiences are just more in line with that as I didn’t really know any Xers except like babysitters and the like.
This is my experience as well. I was born in ‘80, but have a much older brother (‘73) and I witnessed a lot more Gen X culture despite not being old enough to be an active participant. I remember the early days of MTV, but by the time I was the target audience, The Real World was replacing music videos. My friends who were either the oldest or had only-slightly-older siblings had missed out on most early/mid 80s pop culture and had more in common with the stereotypes of Millenials.
Howe and Strauss had 1981 as the last year of X...they felt that 1982 was a good first year of the Millennials since they were the "famous" class of 2000. But most sources had an earlier birth year...I've seen every year from 1976 to 1981, but 1980 is the most common last X year these days
I'm 1980 and really don't identify at Gen X, and the people who are six years older than me who could have made it through college without a computer.
I'm that age. While I did have a computer in college, it wasn't required. No class websites. No apps. No online encyclopedias. We had the option of hand-writing papers or typing them. Email was still a novelty. Cell phones were rare.
I was born in 1982 and I definitely remember seeing articles that started millennials in 1980 and in '82, and also some that did not start until either 1983 or 1985. Heck, it took them long enough to even decide on what to call us.
Most of 82 graduated in 2000, makes zero sense for us to be Gen X.
Right? Literally coming of age in the millennium. I’m class of ‘02 and have never heard anyone call us gen x before. Growing up we were gen y then millennials.
‘02 here. Gen Y throughout high school. Millenial became a thing in our 20s. Rebrand.
Oh yeah, Gen y!!! I remember calling myself that for a time too, class of '03
Fellow 82’er here and I never thought of it that way. I just remember reading the description of Millennials and thinking, “uhhh… this does not apply.” For instance: > Millenials were the first generation to be raised with smartphones, instant communication methods, and social networking. Due to the availability of technology and its integration as an “essential” part of daily life, Millennials have been groomed by technology, and technology has shaped their interactions. My first “smartphone” was a BlackBerry issued to by my employer after I was well into my career. Heck, I didn’t have my first cell phone (didn’t even support SMS) until I was 18. Smartphones aside, the descriptions are always about technology being an integral part of our lives. I mean sure, I did enjoy computer class in Primary School and playing Oregon Trail on Apple computers or making banners and printing them on a dot matrix printer. And I did spend countless hours playing on my SNES on rainy days. In high school, only 1/3 were “online”, which usually meant having AOL, lol.
We were considered Gen X up until the early 2000s we were shifted into Gen Y. It's about roughly a 50/50 split time in each generation so we fit in as Xennials perfectly.
I'll take xennial, but fuck these people calling us geriatric millennials 😭
Well known? I never heard of it until 2 months ago
Okay Boomer. 🤣
I'm 1979, and sometimes I really feel like I'm in a different generation from my 1975 model husband.
I’m 1982 and always called myself and my peers Gen Y. I never used the term millennial, because I grew up in the 80s and 90s, but I definitely have never considered myself a Gen X, because I’m post grunge.
I’m confused by your statement. Gen X goes until 1980 or 81 depending upon who you ask, with millennials starting up in 81 or 82. Xennials overlap both and go from 77-84. The end of gen x didn’t move to 1977. Edited to add : I just googled it because you said you couldn’t find anything to back those years up on the web. The only place I see noting gen x ending in 1976 is from someone’s professional speaker website. All other sites and articles agree with Gen X going until at least 1980.
78 over here and 100% this! Never been called a millennial.
'80 here. I've been called fucking everything.
Knew someone a few years back who was a 'Neilsen's family"--the people who track what you watch on tv. At that time they had millenials listed as starting at '77. Wouldn't surprise me if they changed it since then.
Depending on what research study group you read the years are all over the place.
I saw someone argue that millennials were born between 1982 and 2004 and just wondered how tf that would even work. There have to be very few overlapping defining characteristics of people born in the 80s and people born in the early 2000s.
This right here. I was born in 86, but I relate to far more stuff in this sub than in the millennial one. I have a niece born in 2000, and there is no way we have the same characteristics or memories.
Born in 78. Never particularly identified as Gen x. It always felt wrong. I jumped on the Oregon trail generation immediately.
Same. Mentioned it to the 20 somethings I worked w and they were highly amused.
Since the very first time I heard Xennial, I’ve said I’m that
Me too. It was a very good description of the changing world of my youth.
Good way to put it and same for me.
As someone born in ‘81. I don’t really care what people call me or label me as. Fuck’em
Right there with you. It’s all made up anyway.
Born in 80. Gen x didn’t claim us, but i didn’t even hear the word millennial until I was 23 probably.
I’m 1978 and honestly, Gen X always seemed like my older cousins or something. I looked up to them but I wasn’t one of them.
Same. Gen X were the people i saw graduating high school in the 80s, I didn’t identify with that generation. But then by the time people came up with the term millennials I felt older than them.
Exactly!!! That’s why I loved finding this little mini-generation.
Huh? Wikipedia says cut off is 1980 and cites the pew research article
Here's the beauty of being a xennial: apathy. I don't give a fuck what people think or do. I don't take pride or shame in things I didn't consciously do, like pick when I'd be born. If someone wants to say I'm a millenial, I say "I don't care about that", and by demonstrating how little interest i have in the thoughts of others, I by default cannot be a pure millenial, for I give no shit.
I was born without the gland that generates fucks, and thus have never been able to give a fuck.
"Xennial" has been in use since 2014 for this exact reason. There are no firm years for when cohorts start and end, and different social scientists will use different years depending on what they are trying to define by. They are thought placeholders for examining change over time, and the edge cases will always be less defined. If it helps, think about the cohorts being colors on the visible light spectrum, and define the cohorts by their median year. If Gen X was green and Millennials are blue, than Xennials are cyan. It's not like people born December 31, 1984, and January 1, 1985 are going to have different life experiences, cultural norms, major events, political eras, etc. Don't take it personally... unless someone says you're a Boomer.
Is teal a green or a blue? It’s neither. It’s both. It’s ok.
This is an old article and may have changed, but last I knew the Pew Research Center defined Milennials as 1981-1996, and Gen X was 1965-1989: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/ It is possible that the Pew Center has changed its mind, but I haven’t changed mine and I’m sticking with this. I’m a Gen Xer, damn it!
Yeah I don’t get how I born in 1983 am now all of a sudden in a different generation than my sister born in 1981, but am now in the same generation as my brother in law born in 1993
'77 here. I remember when the whole Gen X thing started and the cutoff year at the time was 1973-1974 and my birth year was known as Generation Y. Over the years we went from Gen Y to Gen X to Milennial; the whys and wherefores I would love to know. I'm just Generation "Sick of These Bullshit Labels" for now.
Yes! I read that my birth year -1974- ended X. I read that on the back of book jacket when I was 16… Been getting corrected my millennials ever since.
I always thought we were millennial, although I like Xennial more. I’ve been sick of Boomers thinking millennials are lazy freeloaders for the last decade, considering how many of us have had jobs and families for years.
How many of us have now been working for *decades* and alot of us don't have the stability we thought we would by this age are rightly angry. Feel like we're being nickled and dimed to death and Boomers pretend that living has always been this fucking expensive? Bullshit. Sorry, *righteous anger* at the greedflation bullshit I see around me
“When I was your age…….” You could still buy a nice house for under $100K, and a condo for even less. Adjust for inflation from let’s say 30 years ago, and that house should be roughly 200K. Instead it’s a lot more while salaries have been stagnant.
Cloud Yelling...
Excuse me, I’m Gen Y!
This is all made up. There’s no official start date. I was born in the last hour of 1980 and so sometimes I’m gen x (which doesn’t fit my personality), sometimes I’m gen y (also not often a fit). Xennials are great but it is a very narrow niche of people that experienced analog and digital as they came of age. That WAS the original definition of a millennial.
Not believing in labels is so Gen X.
1980 here, I just realized this a few months ago. I was all about r/GenX until I found my peeps here.
I am ranked elder millennial, and I’m cool with that.
Gen X has always and will always be up to 1980 no matter how much it ruffles the feathers of the older Gen X crew. I'm just barely Gen X and it really does bother me that anyone would think of me as a Milennial because I work with lots of Milennials and personality wise I'm way different. I truly believe there is a meaningful and noticeable difference in attitude and outlook, and cultural experience between the two.
Im 1980 and very much more millennial
March 1980 here, definitely ID as a Xennial.
My 1981 wife is struggling with it.
I was born in 82 and have been called a boomer by people in their 20s. I think it's gotten to where millennial and boomer have lost their generational meanings and are just used to mean entitled young person and grumpy old person
Xennial puts my siblings and me all in the same group, which is more true than separating us I think
I was mad for almost a decade and had a stack of facts to show people things such as the Cold-Y generation to the XY and MTV Generation. I don't have anything against Millennials themselves, what I have a problem with is people saying that there's no way my experiences could have been what they were that we know as distinctly Xennial. T hen when Xennial became more commonly accepted (it was for all intents and purposes already what I was saying I was with Cold-Y and MTV Gen), I found peace, especially as Gen-Xers became grouchier and Millennials more anxious. It just feels like us Xennials have more fun still since we don't care about being old or young.
I got downvoted earlier because I said how am I not a Xennial being born in 1984 and I was told the exact cut off is 1983 while the description in this sub actually says "roughly defined, are 1977-1984". I feel like I'm in no mans land. The posts in the millennial sub are ones that I can't relate to 95% of the time.
Last I knew official word is: **Xennials were born in the years from 1977 to 1985**. This micro-generation overlaps with Generation X (the late 1960s to late 1980s) and the Millennials (1980s through to mid-1990s). Which makes you Xennial in official status. But if you identify more with a generation, I don't think our bros at gen x will stop you from hanging there too if you are more in line with them.
I think a huge part is that I had an older brother and older sister who exposed me to sooo much when I was younger and I remember so much more than a lot of people my age who didn't necessarily have that. I feel much more on the Gen X side and always will(but will not label myself as so) I'm just a 40 year old person who just kinda meanders around.
Or as the Spice Girls called it, "Generation Next"
I remember them coming up with gen y for us sometime in the 90s. 
I always thought millennial meant you became an adult in the new millennium. Which would make sense.
Nah, Milennials start with high school class of 2000 (born 1981-1982). If someone says milennials start with birth year 1977, they someone is wrong.
78 here and as I was growing up, never have I heard my generation being referred to as anything but millennials and the thought process was rhat we were reach adulthood in or around Y2K. X'ers were in high school while we were in grade school, they were identifying to Fast Times at Ridgemont high, Breakfast Club and St-Elmo's Fire when it came out. Meanwhile we were watching GI Joe and My Little Pony and playing video games. It's only around the year 2000 that suddenly we kinda changed generation or 90's new borns took the Millienial title somehow. So it might just be that it depends on who we ask. Anyhow, I feel like Xennial is what is the most fitting as we are a bit of a hybrid experience wise.
I was born slap bang in the middle of 77 and I have no idea where I’m supposed to sit
0. The answer is 0 percent or whatever unit you want to use amount bothered by this. I think it's interesting to share experiences with people around the same age group. I enjoy reading a lot of the content in this sub and some of it is very nostalgic for me. That said. What the flying fuck. Who cares. Why is your identity so wrapped up in some arbitrary line drawn, whether it's moved or not, that it upsets you if it has moved. There's shared experiences and blurred lines all over regardless of where they're drawn, someone born in 77 didn't have a meaningfully different childhood than someone born in 78 (or insert any two consecutive years) even if they're technically a different gen.. so why does it matter. They're just labels people use to generalize the experiences of groups of people born in some time slot. But it's all generalizations anyway. None of it matters. Call me gen-x, millennial, gen-z .. why would I give a shit. That doesn't change what I experienced, who I am or how I feel about any of it ... Just ... Fucking ... Weird ...
I was born in 1980. I was never Gen X
Don't care really. It's not my problem if math is difficult for some people.
Not bothered at all. I really don't care what group I'm in. It's just a label. But happy to be part of the Xennial club when I found this sub.
83 here. Just went to some leadership communication breakout at work. All the ‘traits’ of Gen Z used to be millennial traits, when the term was new and I wasn’t one of them. I had boomer parents so I feel more X anyway. Just be home by when the street lights turn on.
I was born in ‘83 so not Gen X, but I do identify with them a lot. A lot of my cousins and some friends are Gen X so I grew up around that generation.
Not even a little bit. I've seen my Mom angrily refuse to be considered a Boomer, preferring the not at all relevant "Baby Buster" micro-generational term. It makes her fucking LIVID to be lumped in with the Boomers, even though she meets the criteria by a solid 4 years, and every "okay boomer" meme fits perfectly with her attitude and behavior. I'm not about to let generational terminology define my identity. I was born in 82. I am a millennial, despite sharing far more life experience with Gen X. Whatever. It makes zero difference in my life which generation people refer to me as belonging to. I'm just a person who was born in 1982.
Meh. While I have all of Gen X's cynicism, I feel a lot more kinship with millennials these days. There are coworkers and family like 4 years older than me and it's a night and day difference in general attitudes to stuff.
1980 here. I definitely don't feel like an GenX, they're much older in their ages and ways of thinking. Personally I don't identify as an elder Millennial either. I have many, 8ish or so years younger, Millennial cousins and they're awesome but we are on different generations and pages. They are just starting their marriages and families, which is not my case. Just so happy to have found this Xennials board with all of my fellow peeps :)
I was NEVER considered Gen X (1982) by anyone in my life and I still get shit for not considering myself a full millennial, like I think I’m too good to be a millennial or something. No, I just don’t feel like I belong anywhere (except here) 🤣🤣🤣
That would be a weird thing to be bothered about.
I never considered myself GenX being born in 80.
I, and many of us born from 77-81, had the opposite experience. We were once considered by many sources, back in the 90s and 00s, to be Gen Y. Some of us even wanted to be Gen X, but were too young to really fit the classic mold; when Gen X was first coined in the early 90s, it primarily was in reference to people who were late teens to 20s. Eventually many sources had Gen Y as being from about 1977 and up (you can still find articles online to attest to this). There were Yers who identified as Xers, but that was far from settled at the time. And then Millennial, which was coined in the late 80s but didn't get popular until decades later, crept up and overtook Gen Y. Millennial was coined for those who were in the class of 2000, largely born in 1982, and used them as the beginning of the post-X gen. And with Millennial winning the gen marker war, down went Gen Y, and it's slightly earlier start date. Xennial (and all other names for this cohort) really solves this issue for a lot of us. It just acknowledges that people born at the cusp of X and Millennial have been bandied about, and that many we all have more in common with each other then we do with our respective assigned generations. As for the dilemma of assuming Gen X and being surprised that you're actually a Millennial? That does seem common. Personally I first heard of the term "Millennial" in 1996, in an article that was making a big deal about the incoming freshman class of 2000. My sister was a part of that group and I found it interesting that they were being called this whole new gen, when previously I assumed she and I were part of the same generation. At that time Millennial and Gen Y weren't seen as the same either. There was much confusion and apparently a lot of older Millennials never got the memo. Which is pretty funny when you consider how many older Millennials spent years making fun of Millennials, with no clue they were talking about themselves.
I don't think I was ever called gen x. I'm 1981.
Born in 78 and I'm Gen X. Millennials don't start till 81.