As time rolls on, our language evolves, and along with it, so does our culture, so what may have been a well-used phrase back in your day may just fall on deaf ears in 2025.
During the 1960s or even the 1980s, the cultural landscape was completely different for young people—their financial situations, career prospects, and relationships—so what may feel like a helpful remark could just seem ignorant to your modern-day 20-something.
For Gen Z, the generation born from the mid-1990s through to the early 2010s, context is important, and these common sayings could just make them cringe.
“Why are you always on your phone?”
Of course a lot of us are hyperaware of our screen time and constantly looking for ways to reduce it, but what Boomers often view as a sign of disconnect or even addiction is in fact Gen Z reconnecting or even being productive. Our phones aren’t just sources of entertainment; they offer communication, tools for work, education, organisation, and in some cases even activism. While it may seem like we’re tapping away for the fun of it, there’s often a lot more behind that screen time.
This type of phrase can put technology in an automatic bad box, without considering just how deeply integrated they are in modern life. Not only this, but boomers are ironically one of the fastest-growing demographics on Facebook, according to Sprout Social. It may be time to get to grips with what Gen Z are actually up to on these devices.
“We never needed therapy—people just dealt with their problems.”
When these words leave someone’s mouth, they’re often said with a sense of pride in their generation’s lack of care and understanding of mental health. We should not be glamorising a time when mental health problems were repressed, as this only caused generations worth of trauma—issues ignored, pent-up anger, shame around our emotions, or just lack of understanding of them altogether.
Younger generations are beginning to choose healing and find useful tools to deal with their emotions, and this should be something that we celebrate. Dealing with problems means exactly that, dealing with them—talking about them, understanding them, and then solving them—and therapy, for many, is a great tool to do this.
“I don’t see colour – we’re all the same.”
This is always a well-intended expression, with the aim of signifying a sense of unity and highlighting race isn’t something they would treat anybody differently for. However, in this day and age, it often completely misses the point and can be seen as a way of avoiding having these vital and often controversial conversations about race, discrimination, and inequality.
By saying that colour isn’t something you consider, you can overlook the experiences of people of colour, whether that be the discrimination they do face or the history that lies behind their race. The way many Gen Z people see it is that the aim isn’t to be blind to colour, but to see it, understand it, and be actively anti-racist.
“Kids these days have it so much easier.”
The Boomer phrase of all phrases that riles up their Gen Z counterparts. This line is thrown around a lot, and with it comes a sense of ignorance to the problems of modern life. Every generation has struggles, and I’m sure the generation before Boomers would have thought the same thing, but it’s important to acknowledge that the problems, albeit different, are still problems.
On the surface it could seem that yes, things are easier, such as ordering food, finding out new information, or contacting people, but plenty of other things are harder. Buying a house, navigating social media pressures, and living in an unstable economy are all issues younger generations face on a daily basis.
“You can’t say anything anymore.”
What this phrase often means is that you can’t say offensive things anymore. The truth of it is, you can say what you like, but you can no longer expect there not to be consequences or a reaction if you say something insensitive or that could be deemed offensive towards somebody.
Gen Z typically are more successful at trying to use inclusive language and think more empathetically about the power behind their phrases. Having an understanding of the way in which the things you say could impact other people can only be a positive thing, and shaming younger generations for this can feel like a step in the wrong direction.