15 Words and Phrases You Need to Know to Understand Millennials

In case you didn’t know, you and all the people who were born and raised in the same period of time belong to a generation duly identified by sociological and anthropological researchers: each generation is classified in order to study and understand the behavior of this group according to the environment. political, social and economic development in which it developed. You may not have heard the terms “Post-War Children” (born between 1930 and 1948) or “Babyboomers” (born between 1949 and 1968), but you’ve probably heard about millennials (aka millennials), who have been the most controversial, misunderstood and criticized generation of all.

If you want to find out why and understand this group a little better, pay attention, because the awesome.club will show you a list of words and expressions that you will need to learn to use for this purpose.

Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996that is, anyone who in 2018 has between 22 and 37 years old of age is millennial. They are characterized by having lived through the turn of the century and the millennium, growing up in an economic crisis, late incorporation into the labor market and being the first globalized generation that enjoyed the advances of the internet, the media and the emergence of social networks. These recent events have allowed them to take ownership of public opinion and cultural cohesion.

They were the first to make friends and live day to day, at low cost and in real time, with young people on the other side of the world, learning about their culture, language and customs. Thus, the millennial generation’s vocabulary is full of English terms (or in other languages) originated in internet spaces and that are understood throughout the world.

With no more to add, pay attention to the words and expressions that will allow you to immerse yourself in millennial slang.

It is an acronym in English that means laugh out loud 🇧🇷laugh out loud), and is used to express that some situation is very funny. LOL comes from the internal jargon initially used on forums, but it was so pervasive that it is currently used among millennials during informal communication via computers, smartphones, and even face-to-face.

Another English acronym born in internet forums; means You Only Live Once 🇧🇷You only live once🇧🇷 It is often used by millennials to encourage them to do whatever they want, even if it means taking risks without thinking about the consequences. In some articles, YOLO is compared to the mythical carpe diem (seize the day) by Horacio, a phrase from his poetry Ode 11which has inspired entire generations for centuries.

Surely you’re thinking of a mythological creature from Scandinavian folklore endowed with enormous ears and nose, but we’re afraid that term is less magical. When a millennial talks about a troll, it is usually referring to a person who, using offensive languagetries to attack another person through social networks for pure pleasure or fun.

It is a term derived from the Anglo-Saxon word stalkerthat means “stalker🇧🇷 It is coined to designate the action of constantly reviewing a person’s social networks in order to find out everything you can about their social and personal life.

A selfie refers to a self portrait done with a camera (usually the cell phone). According to the article published on the BBC website, the term was first used in 2002 by an Australian named Nathan Hope, who uploaded a picture of himself on an internet forum calling it a selfie. However, selfies are much older than you think. The first was made in 1839 by Robert Cornelius, an American businessman who perfected daguerreotypes and other methods of photography. Cornelius had to remain motionless for 15 minutes to capture his own face with the technology of the time.

Millennials use selfies to show the world their beauty and lifestyle through social media, thus gaining social acceptance and strengthening their self-esteem. However, according to the article published in La Vanguardia, an excess of selfies can be a sign of psychological problems.

According to Alsacia Plaz, influencer and caricaturist, influencer marketing refers to a form of advertising that has recently emerged thanks to social networks, in which all strategies focus on a person who has the ability toinfluence decisions and tastes of consumers who follow these accounts. An influencer can be, for example, a youtuber who is hired by commercial companies to recommend their products, lifestyle or services on their channel, and in this way, influence their followers to buy them.

This term has been used by Anglo-Saxons for decades, but thanks to globalization, it has spread around the world and is very common among millennials. The literal definition of crush is crush. However, in the proper context, the word names a impossible love🇧🇷 According to the article published in Seventeen magazine, usually a crush is that person who loves each other secretly and madly, whose love is not reciprocated for different reasons.

Although millennials are often labeled as lazy, according to the article published in La Vanguardia, they are the ones who have driven, across the world, through social networks, the practice of exercise, sports and a balanced diet🇧🇷 Fitness is an English word whose literal definition is aptitude, that is, the ability that someone has to perform certain activities. Today, it is used all over the world to define a lifestyle whose pillars are physical condition, proper nutrition, health and beauty.

This word is one of the most used by internet users, it means “hater” and refers to users of social networks and forums who devote a lot of time to publicly criticizing, defaming and despising (for unreasonable reasons) a person, collective, cause, product or work.

Haters are as old as life, but the term in English has recently gained traction around the world thanks to the massive use of social media. Although they can be confused in internet spaces for trolls, a troll and a hater are different species. the troll pretend be angry and for fun sabotages any publication of his whim, while the hater really hates specific topics and shows its anger in the communities, generating heated fights with other users.

Bae is an acronym of the English phrase “before anyone else” which in Portuguese means “before anyone else”. This contraction is used by millennials to name the most important person of their lives, be it their partner or best friend.

This word means “random” and refers to any situation that can occur at random, Without previous warning and unexpectedly. For example, the appearance of this walrus in this article. You didn’t expect this!

It is an adjective in Japanese that means “cute” or “beautiful”. This term has become popular all over the world thanks to the global influence of Japanese culture in the areas of entertainment, fashion, food, music, cinema and lifestyles.

This word in English means clothing and makes reference in the fashion world to the set of clothing and accessories that someone uses. The word outfit is also used as an adjective for a set of outfits that identify a seasoncollection or occasions, for example: summer clothes, wedding clothes, spring clothes…

This English term means “state of mind” and is very popular with millennials all over the world, regardless of their nationality or the language they speak. It is usually used to say that you are not happy or willing to do a certain thing. “I’m not in the mood — I’m not in the mood to do this.”

Fail is an American expression that means failure, and comes from the diminutive of “failure” (to fail in Portuguese). It’s usually used when something doesn’t work as expected. In social networks it is used to mock errors or unsuccessful attempts of some person or company, whose disaster is funny to internet users.

They are labeled selfish, lazy, selfish and foolish, with labels that contrast with the fact that, according to the article published in La Vanguardia, are the most prepared generation until today. Those born between 1981 and 1996 are the group with the highest number of university degrees and language proficiency recorded in history. While it’s true that idiots abound across all generations, millennials were lucky enough to be the first to have the ability to publish what they think, which is why they have such a bad reputation. They are not very different from the rest of the young people who at the time wanted to change the world and find their place.

Frustration is a word that characterizes this generation that thought that if they prepared well and studied hard, they could achieve success. But, according to Rafael Salazar, sociologist and university professor, the world treated them as it has always treated young people: badly. Millennials around the world have suffered economic crises, unemployment, low wages and delayed incorporation into the labor market. However, your empowerment and adaptability are tools that will help them to to progress.

Do you know any other terms that should appear in the millennial dictionary? What characteristics best define this group? Do you think this generation has a positive impact on the world?