Is the word NPC an insult? A Guide to Intergenerational Understanding
There is no age for love. There is no age to study, travel, leave, return, get married or have children. Even for our dreams to come true, any age is good. But there are things for which age can be a barrier. For example: What happens when a millennial or millennial talks to or texts someone born in the 50s or 60s?
It may happen that I said boomer I don’t understand anything or, as he said, “not a damn thing,” because “it’s not cool.” Conclusion: age matters a lot! Our date of birth determines whether we understand new generations better or worse, and as a result we are more or less integrated at the linguistic level into modern society, so as not to seem like “the whitewash of the blue summer of 2024.”
Generations and jargons
Well, according to date of birth, let’s put these concepts in chronological order: Millennials are those who were born between 80 and 90 years old and whose age today is around 30 – 40 years old; Generation Zeta or zenials These are modern teenagers, born between the mid-90s and 2015. They are also called the “silent generation” because, connected to the Internet from birth and surrounded by ever-evolving technological gadgets, they prefer communication instead of talking. , send messages or communicate via social networks.
The last of the latter are Generation Alpha, those born after 2015. These are kids millennials. The origin of the term is primarily attributed to Mark McCrindle, founder of the research agency McCrindle. in his book The ABCs of XYZ: Understanding Global Generations published in 2009, he realizes that a new generation is already at the door and decides to name it after the first letter of the Greek alphabet, ἄλφα, because they are the first to be born entirely into the 21st century generation.
And now yes we go back to these wonderful yearsthose known as Baby Boomers In the United States, those born during the baby boom or baby boom after the Second World War. In the Spanish-speaking environment, this generation of the 50s and 60s used a more “pure” Spanish language, not yet captured by anglicisms, calques, borrowings or hieroglyphic words. Or not? Hmm. We have sandwich, jeans, camping, football, bacon, aerobics, rock, jazz, whiskey or scotch.
Boomers they don’t understand the language chill teenagers, but the same thing happens vice versa. Will they understand millennials or zenials, expressions such as “hallucinating a neighbor,” “nanay de la China,” “Calm down, chest!”, “Here, Jerome, chewy balls,” “See you later, Lucas,” or “get in line, Pepsicola”? So, a long and so on words and expressions in Spanish that doesn’t borrow or track anglicisms or cryptic words to appear more “cool from Paraguay”. How will a teenager react to all this nonsense?
“ME, are you crazy? Don’t scratch me with your prehistoric movements!”
NPC or non-player character
The expression “NPC” is an English acronym used in the video game industry to refer to a character who is not part of the game, that is, one who is decorative, as part of decoration. Teens use this acronym (Spanish and pronounced “enepecé”) to describe dull people who don’t “draw” much, don’t get wet, don’t participate, or have lost their personality and are therefore no longer fun to play with. .
Today’s teenagers brag about using “cool” language and describe adult language as stale and outdated. So Boomerswho don’t control their tongue millennials or zenialsNot only do they need to “get it together” to stay current when it comes to verbal communication, but they also need to master the language to name everyday realities that didn’t exist four decades ago: the Internet, the Internet, GPS, tablet, smartphone, storage pen,VEL, BluetoothScooter, selfie or Roomba.
Millennials and zenials They may say “Holi” rather than “Hello” (with a slightly repeating intonation to indicate that we until now, that is, current). Now we no longer send a message, but whatsappA EmailA mailA tweetA like or coil. If we don’t respond to any of the above or take too long to avoid greeting someone or go unnoticed, we do halos.
We are some NPCif we are no longer “cool”, then we are not “cool” and we are not “mambo kings”, or, translated into the current lexicon, we will be again living roomthat is, “happy as Easter” if we restore our status chill, best friend, tiktoker, influential person, youtuber, hater, Gimbro or follower.
From chocolate to chococcino
What can you tell me about the influence of language in the gastronomic sphere? This delicious mountain-shaped cupcake with a cloud of sugar or chocolate resting on top is now… cakeand if on top there is a decorative crater of multi-colored edible figures, that is fillingsThis cake. Fresh, freshly squeezed multi-fruit juice is smoothie. If you drink espresso with milk foam, well shaken and chilled, this frappuccino, and if it’s chocolate, is it delicious? Balance, chococcino!
With these gastronomic notes I leave you with a sweet taste in your mouth and say goodbye to random with an expression from the 90s and doing nothing spoiler the film that brought her fame Terminator: See you, Baby!