Mental Floss

10 Words Gen-Xers Made Popular

By Michele Debczak

From yuppie to headbanger, Gen X certainly gave us plenty of words we still use today.
From yuppie to headbanger, Gen X certainly gave us plenty of words we still use today. / Gina Wetzler, iStock via Getty Images
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They may have lacked the online platforms of Generation Z and Millennials, but members of Generation X found ways to establish their own lingo when they were coming of age. Gen X, the demographic born between the years 1965 and 1980, was often depicted as relaxed, cynical, and music-loving at their cultural peak in the 1980s and '90s. These characteristics are all represented in this list of Generation X terminology put together by Dictionary.com.

Grunge and punk rock music rose to prominence when Gen Xers were in their teens and twenties. We can thank these trends for giving us words like headbanger, which entered the lexicon in the early 1980s, and rock, which was first used as a verb meaning "to be excellent" around the same time.

You can find the full list of words Gen X made popular below. And if you still aren't sure where Generation X ends and Millennials begin, we break it down for you here.

  1. Chill pill
  1. Gnarly
  1. Headbanger
  1. Yuppie
  1. Diss
  1. Hella
  1. Trippin'
  1. Rock
  1. Dude
  1. To the max

[h/t Dictionary.com]

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