Born between 1965 and 1980 (we prefer 1960 – 1985 for a variety of reasons), sometimes referred to as the “latchkey” generation due to the large number of children who grew up with working parents and had to take care of themselves after school, Generation X defines themselves as those that “…played outside, drank from the water hose, while waiting for the street lights to come on.” They are also known as “slackers” or the “MTV generation,” referring to their laid-back attitude and love for the iconic music channel. GenXers have popularized “FA&FO”, it’s become a mantra.
The 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s were the era of their youth. First, let’s talk about their music preferences. They were the ones who popularized the second British invasion, hair bands, grunge, alternative, and punk rock music. Their music interests began with bands listened to by their parents, such as The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Christopher Cross, James Taylor, Carol King, Buffalo Springfield, Blue Oyster Cult, America, Dan Fogelburg, Toto and continued into the second British Invasion of the 1980s with artists such as Cutting Crew, Howard Jones, Level 42, the Dream Academy, A-Ha!, When in Rome, Phil Collins, The Eagles, and further, Generation X was on the forefront of the Grunge movement with Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, and The Smashing Pumpkins. GenX defined the “Hair Band” era, along with Arena Rock. What predated GenX in the styles of Styx, early Van Halen, Yes, ELO, among others, absolutely went nuclear (another GenX coined term) with the rise of 80’s hair bands such as Poison, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Cinderella, etc. They were also known for their love of hip-hop, with artists such as Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Salt-n-Pepa, TLC, Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer and N.W.A. GenX also ushered in the new style of 80s and 90s country music with artists like Alan Jackson, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn, Toby Keith, Teri Clark, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna and Clint Black, while also broadening the impact of Outlaw Country artists such as Hank Williams Jr., Willie Nelson, Kris Kristipherson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash.
Generation X popularized many terms and phrases that are still in use today. They would use terms such as “dope” or “fresh” to describe anything they liked. As-if, gnarly, tubular, diss, chill pill, dude, headbanger, hella, trippin, ballin, going postal, crib, phat, bogus, psych, homeslice, homey, holmes, grody, fer sure, talk to the hand, i’m sure, have a cow, bite me, tripendicular, gag me with a spoon, barf me out were several words and phrases used as slang.
Generation X were the first to embrace technology in their everyday lives, with the rise of personal computers and the internet. They were the ones who popularized the term “cyberspace” and would use phrases such as “surfing the net” or “dial-up connection.” They would also use the word “rad” to describe something cool or awesome.
In terms of fashion, Gen Xers were known for their grunge-inspired style, which included ripped jeans, flannel shirts, and Doc Martens boots. They were also fond of wearing oversized clothing, such as baggy jeans and hoodies. They would use the term “chill” to describe their relaxed style.
Gen Xers were also known for their love of pop culture, particularly movies and TV shows. They were the ones who popularized the phrases “I’ll be back” from Terminator, “As if!” from Clueless, and “Show me the money!” from Jerry Maguire. They were also the first fans of Star Wars and would use the phrase “May the Force be with you.” GenX found themselves being catered to by television and advertisers in the form of Saturday Morning Cartoons, MTV was still about music and music videos, afternoon television programming was basically crafted to capture kids and teens. GenX drove the desire for alternatives in many aspects of life. Such came with the rise of Fox television channel, and subsequently made TV shows like Married With Children and The Simpsons, mainstream. Later in the early 90s, along came shows such as the X-Files and Millennium by Chris Carter, favorites among a huge percentage of GenXers.
During good weather, GenXers basically stayed outside. In many cases, they weren’t allowed in the house until the street lights came on or the weather turned bad. Streetball, spotlight, “army” were three of the most popular games played by kids in the neighborhood (among many others). On weekends, whenever they could swing it, GenXers were “at the mall” wearing their multiple “popped collars”, hanging at the food court or just making trouble wherever they could. At night, for those with a car or those (scrubs) with someone that had a car, they’d all be “cruising” the “strip” or strip mall, wearing fluorescent shorts and a Spuds MacKenzie t-shirt, again, either having fun or causing trouble. They would also “make a turn through town” multiple times per night, just to see who was out and who was “hanging” at their spot.
Being of the “cold war” generations, GenXers would lie in bed awake at night breaking out in cold sweats as they contemplated the pending apocalypse. Tie this with being a generation of an abnormally large number of “one parent homes”, created their fascination with not giving a damn, about anything.
Between the Boomer Generation and Generation X in overlapping years is what’s described as “Generation Jones”, these are the folks born prior to 1965 but identify more with Generation X than Boomers. A number of Millennials that were born after 1980 also find themselves identifying more with Generation X than Millennials.
Generation X was a diverse group of individuals who were influenced by the music, fashion, and pop culture of their time. As a whole, they weren’t interested in race, color, creed or ethnicity. They were laid-back, tech-savvy, and socially aware, with a unique slang vocabulary that reflected their experiences and attitudes. The result of their experiences have evolved a large percentage of their generation who follow a few unique mantras: FA&FO (F#$K AROUND AND FIND OUT), WFO (WIDE F#$KING OPEN), Caring less and less about more and more, F&*K It, Boomers Caused the World’s Problems.