In recent years, the word zoomer has emerged as slang for someone born in Generation Z. This is a relatively recent phenomenon dating back to at least 2016 (we can't pinpoint the exact origin, but it might trace to 4chan message boards), but before that the word has also referred to especially active Baby Boomers and also, on rare occasions, "one who zooms". The term really started escalating in usage in November 2019, when the OK Boomer memes started getting popular and zoomer was proffered as a modern-day counterpart. It hasn't made it to dictionaries yet, but it's been added to Merriam-Webster's "Words We're Watching" list. It's probably here to stay, especially since it's become oddly appropriate now that our entire social and academic lives are taking place on Zoom.
1 Comment
Steve Rothman
4/1/2020 07:36:01 pm
There was a song in the 80s by Aretha Franklin called “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” I’m not sure if that was common slang or just made up for the song, but from context I gather it means flirting or similar. Any ideas?
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AUTHORHello! I'm Adam Aleksic. This year, I graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Government and Linguistics. There, I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society and wrote a thesis on Serbo-Croatian language policy, magna cum laude. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy philosophy, trivia, vexillology, geography, board games, conlanging, art history, and law.
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