One interesting outcome of widespread internet access is that you have young and older people mingling on a regular basis outside of the usual hierarchical context (e.g. parent-child, teacher-student, employer-employee). If I were living 30 years ago, there is absolutely no way I would be well-versed in the equivalent of zoomer slang (I guess it'd be Gen X slang?), but since we occupy the same spaces it's natural for that kind of linguistic exchange to occur. Since it's only a relatively superficial exchange, I don't think most of us geezers can appreciate all the underlying complexity to be able to use and comprehend the slang at a "native" level, but it prevents us from being left completely in the dark.
but it prevents us from being left completely in the dark.
There's some poetry to the fact that out of touch internet people that are still on the internet but can't or refuse to even try to grasp upcoming slang tend to be aging 4chan edgelords that keep regurgitating appropriated stoner frog cartoons.
One interesting outcome of widespread internet access is that you have young and older people mingling on a regular basis outside of the usual hierarchical context (e.g. parent-child, teacher-student, employer-employee). If I were living 30 years ago, there is absolutely no way I would be well-versed in the equivalent of zoomer slang (I guess it'd be Gen X slang?), but since we occupy the same spaces it's natural for that kind of linguistic exchange to occur. Since it's only a relatively superficial exchange, I don't think most of us geezers can appreciate all the underlying complexity to be able to use and comprehend the slang at a "native" level, but it prevents us from being left completely in the dark.
There's some poetry to the fact that out of touch internet people that are still on the internet but can't or refuse to even try to grasp upcoming slang tend to be aging 4chan edgelords that keep regurgitating appropriated stoner frog cartoons.