Gen Z call out older generation over ‘boomer ellipses’ but there’s an important reason for it

The ever nihilistic members of Gen Z are extremely creative in coming up with new ways to poke fun at everyone and anyone who is older - and therefore not as cool - as them.

Tired of pointing out the poor economic situation and housing crisis we've been forced to inherit by older generations, Gen Z are now focused on nitpicking and memeing every quirk they spot in older people.

From the 'millennial pause' phenomenon to debates over how you should wear your socks, Gen Z are merciless when it comes to their ribbing.

The latest victim of Gen Z bullying? Three little dots... also known as an ellipsis.

Also known as suspension points, suspension dots, ellipses are used to omit certain words from a sentence, often intentionally.

Now, you might think something as inoffensive as three little dots wouldn't be something be something to debate, however those pesky little dots have now earned themselves a new name - 'boomer ellipses'.

According to younger people across the internet, using an ellipsis when texting someone often comes across as rude, sarcastic or passive aggressive - regardless of whether or not the writer intended this.

In a thread on Reddit, one user pointed out that ellipses are intended to be used to convey a message of 'I wanna say more but I won't', whereas boomers tend to overuse them in every form of written message.

Asides from the obvious answer of 'generational differences' there appears to be a reason why older generations overuse ellipses... and it's actually a pretty simple reason.

According to a post on Instagram from Adam Aleksic, aka etymologynerd, the reason for the boomer ellipses was borne out of convenience rather than a stylistic choice.

"You know how older people tend to use the 'boomer ellipses' whenever they're texting," he began, before going on to explain: "That's because they grew up following different rules for informal communication."

He went on to explain that younger people will simply send multiple texts if they want to separate ideas over a message, whereas older people utilised the ellipsis as a way to save space when typing messages.

"People back in the day learnt to separate thoughts by using ellipses," he said.

"It was simply more efficient to separate multiple ideas within a single text."

He went on to add that the shift coincided with the rise in unlimited messaging. Meaning that now makes much more sense to separate your thoughts by pressing enter and sending multiple little messages instead of one long wall of text littered with ellipses throughout.

Aleksic goes on to acknowledge that the improper use of an ellipsis may appear passive aggressive or annoying to younger people, however clarified that it's just a way of sending multiple thoughts 'in the space of one message.'