Comedian Ricky Gervais feigned offense in response to being called a “Boomer” on Twitter, a new catchphrase used by Generation Z and millennials that is picking up steam.
“Guys, I think I have to leave Twitter. Someone with a pink cartoon unicorn as their avi just called me a Boomer,” Gervais, 58, quipped on Tuesday morning. “I’m strong, but not that strong.”
Guys, I think I have to leave Twitter. Someone with a pink cartoon unicorn as their avi just called me a Boomer. I’m strong, but not that strong.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) November 5, 2019
His joke comes as the phrase “OK boomer” is being increasingly used by younger generations as a retort to criticism from baby boomers. The comeback was initially launched in response to a viral TikTok video showing an older man saying, “The millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome, they don’t ever want to grow up.”
Members of Generation Z especially have posted TikToks of them saying, “OK boomer,” as “a sophisticated, mass retaliation” to baby boomers who have shaped politics, economics, and the environment. Many millennials subsequently borrowed the phrase.
“It’s not generational warfare; it’s real criticism,” D.C. lawyer Victoria Slatton said. “Gen Z has made laughing at it an art.”
“The older generations grew up with a certain mind-set, and we have a different perspective,” 19-year-old Shannon O’Connor, who designed clothing bearing the catchphrase, said. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond, ‘Ok, boomer.’ It’s like, ‘We’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.'”
Gervais, who was born in 1961, continued to poke fun at the trend in another tweet.
“‘Boomers’ by the way, are people born between 1945 & 1965,” he later said. “You’d have to be some sort of c— to be born then.”
[Opinion: Young people’s hatred for baby boomers is completely justified]
“Boomers” by the way, are people born between 1945 & 1965. You’d have to be some sort of cunt to be born then.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) November 5, 2019
Other Twitter users responded to Gervais by jokingly saying, “Thoughts and prayers,” and, “Thinking of you at this difficult time.”
