There’s no clear meaning assignable to the phrase “OK Boomer”. It is used by different people to mean different things, because in fact it has no intrinsic meaning. The meaning of words is determined by convention, and there’s no clear convention for this phrase.

Chris, you seem to have missed the part in the second paragraph where I said essentially this. Nowhere in this essay am I defending an intrinsic meaning to the phrase. Rather, I explained that looking at usage is what matters, and then I proceeded to do just that.

I think where we probably disagree is on saying there’s no clear convention for the phrase. I’ve provided at least a handful of examples to the contrary, and there are many more out there. This phrase may be new, but that in no way means that no convention has formed around it, especially with the speed at which things move on social media these days.

I hear you that there are those who do use it as an ageist slur, but what you understand of language leads me to believe you should recognize that individualized and isolated exceptions hardly count for ‘convention.’ What isn’t clear to me is that these ageist or deliberately demeaning uses of the phrase are anywhere near as common as what I would call the conventional use that is laid out in this essay.

One interesting consideration: while people who use the phrase might have different intentions, people who hear the phrase also have different interpretations, and some of them interpret it to be a slur.

There are lots of people who interpret words differently than the speaker intends, not to mention many who interpret words differently from their conventional use. How we hear and understand words is a part of the convention surrounding them, but the assumption you’re working from is that there is no real convention here. I don’t agree, although I want to also point out that the logic you’re using works both ways. I’ll explain what I mean below.

So, in an age of political correctness, is it not appropriate that the term be frowned upon because some people find it insulting?

I think this is an excellent question because it demonstrates the extent of the problem with this line of thinking. Political correctness is another one of those phrases that means different things to different people. I’d argue the case is better for saying that there is no convention around it than there is for ‘OK Boomer.’ So on the one hand, I’m not sure this puts your argument in any better position.

On the other hand, even if we do claim there is a convention to political correctness, I could see two further points that make it far less simple than this implies. One would be that perhaps the age of political correctness we live in is one of too much political correctness, and so we should not actually be doing as you suggest. But another point, to which I’m more sympathetic, would be to say that whatever political correctness is meant to signify, it really isn’t just about refraining from using words that offend someone.

A lot of folks use political correctness to mean this, but what they label with that phrase is not well-described by it. Especially when much of what makes a slur offensive is the history behind it and the usage it sees today, to go back to convention. Some people are offended by being called a “jerk,” but this fact alone shouldn’t mean we stop using the word altogether. However, a slur like the n-word is about far more than just someone’s feelings getting hurt. So perhaps what we should consider instead is whether or not ‘OK Boomer’ is a phrase or slur like the latter as opposed to the former.

Unfortunately, and with all due respect, I think you’ve answered your own question and pulled the rug out from under your argument if you’re claiming there is no clear convention to it. Without that, I don’t see how you’ll make a persuasive case for this being more than just a simple matter of feelings getting hurt. I don’t normally call someone a jerk unless I feel like they’re behaving like a jerk. But I’m also not going to stop using the word because it offends some people. It may be offending people it’s actually meant for, and what offends them about it may not be as reasonable as some of them will suggest.