"In my time...", "when I was young..." or "one day you will understand" are some expressions that you must have heard at some point in your life, probably from an older person. This is because the generation gap has always existed and will always exist, and this has become even more evident in recent times, with the spread of the term “cringe”.
From the English language, the term “cringe” started to be used very frequently on the internet. Younger people know very well what it means, but those who have already left adolescence are a little lost, because the literal translation of the term would be “to bow in fear”.
However, when we analyze the word “cringe” as a slang term, we understand that it is used to refer to something shameful or embarrassing. The older generations already had an expression for this: shame of others. So, if you want to memorize what that word means, just think that it is an attitude that causes other people's shame.
However, to understand what is being called cringe these days, you need to understand a little more about it. To do this, pay close attention to the content that we have prepared below!
Meaning of cringe
As we saw earlier, cringe is the word used to define something shameful or embarrassing.
In fact, who defines what cringe is is the generation that disseminated the use of this term: the generation Z. And just as you once felt ashamed of some of your parents' behaviors, Zs feel that way about the attitudes of the generation that came just before them, the millennials.
What are the generations and how do I find mine?
Before you make a confusion between generations x, y and z, let's learn a little more about each of the generations that have been identified in world society. They are defined from a set of behaviors and positions of people born at a certain time, which impacts culture and economy.
1) Baby boomers
These are the people born between 1946 and 1964 who were responsible for rebuilding the world after World War II. Because of this, they are committed to hard work, conservative in customs (prioritizing marriage, a home of their own, etc.) and seeking stability.
2) Generation X
They are people born between 1965 and 1980, years marked by important social movements. But they grew up amid authoritarian governments, which made them seen as idealists and rebels. Thus, they are individuals who value individual freedom, but who still had to adapt to the world that was constituted when they grew up.
3) Generation Y or Millennial
They are people born between 1981 and 1996, who grew up in a world inserted in new technologies. In addition, they are politically and socially engaged, seeking to break the standards imposed by previous generations. In this case, individuals do not prioritize exhausting work and building a family in their life plans. It is important to mention that millennials are targets of criticism from all generations.
4) Generation Z
It is the people born between 1997 and 2010 who are the first digital natives and the generation most committed to changing the world. In this way, they master technology with ease, put into practice the break with the patterns that millennials started and use the term “cringe” to talk about millennials.
5) Alpha Generation
They are people born after 2010, characterizing themselves as the youngest generation in the world. Fully inserted in a digital context, they may face difficulties in separating the virtual world from the real world. Fortunately, this also makes them know how to take advantage of the benefits that the internet promotes and easily discover how to use electronic equipment. As it is still made up of children, it is difficult to predict what this generation's worldview will be.
What all generations have in common is that they always try to break with the behaviors and thoughts of previous generations and believe that they are better than those who came before and those who came after. Thus, the world is always renewing itself, albeit at the expense of a rivalry between younger and older.
Maybe you don't really identify with the generation you belong to, and that's not a problem. All rules have exceptions, especially if you were born precisely in the transition period between one generation and another.
am i cringe?
After digital natives appropriated the term cringe to talk about some millennial habits, many people began to wonder if they are cringe, or if there is a cringe meme. With the topics we separate, understand what attitudes are considered shameful by generation Z, which is no joke!
- To idolize series and/or films that have already been very successful, such as the TV series “Friends”, Disney films or the “Harry Potter” saga;
- Demonstrating an excessive passion for coffee, in addition to eating breakfast every day;
- Wear skinny pants, whose modeling is very tight;
- Compose a look using a round pointe shoe;
- Enjoy using emojis in text messages or on social media;
- Complete photo captions using hashtags;
- Not liking or not knowing the content produced on the TikTok app;
- Talking often about the need to pay slips;
- Say you are “mother/father of pet” or mother/father of plant”;
- Believing that minimalism is a beautiful and interesting style.
You might also like:
- How much we are influenced by our parents' models and how we can free ourselves from what doesn't add
- Reflect on shame, one of the levels of consciousness
- Learn how a leader can manage intergenerational conflict
- See how technology impacts each generation
If you reproduce any of these attitudes, chances are you're a millennial generation and Gen Z considers you cringe. But this is not a cause for concern, after all, you've even felt other people's shame for very specific behaviors of your family members, haven't you?
Considering each information presented, we observe that the term cringe is used by generation Z to talk about generation Y, or millennial, in a shameful tone. There are specific attitudes of those born from 1981 to 1996 that constrain those born from 1997 to 2010, even if there is no logical explanation for this. Fortunately, this is nothing more than a healthy rivalry, which shows us that the world is constantly changing.
