baby-boom generation
5
3.5
- noun
- /ˈbeɪbi buːm ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən/
- US
:
generación del baby boom
- By the early 1960s, the "baby boom" generation was reaching university age, leading to another enrollment bulge.
- aging of the baby-boom generation
- baby-boom generation ages
Examples
-
Some 40 or 50 years ago, the agenda for higher education was clear: educate the baby-boom generation.
Academic text (2007) -
Another positive impetus for change comes from the baby-boom generation.
Academic text (1995) -
For many members of the baby boom generation, it was traumatic.
-
I came of age as a member of the baby-boom generation born after World War II.
Academic text (1993) -
I was part of that rabble-rousing baby boom generation, but I kept on going and stayed active.
Blog text (31) -
Soon, most members of the politically potent baby boom generation will have parents of an age where long-term care needs can be expected.
Academic text (1991) -
Mr. Tennyson is one of the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, known as the baby boom generation.
Blog text (9) -
The aging faculty of the baby-boom generation that now fills the senior ranks of the professoriate soon will be eligible for retirement.
Academic text (2006) -
And the Latino population is growing at just the right time to pick up the slack as the baby boom generation ages, retires, and leaves the labor force.
Academic text (1991) -
The baby-boom generation experienced significant cultural shifts during their youth.
Surface Forms
Morphology
baby-boom + generation
The phrase is compositionally built from 'baby-boom' (a period of sharply increased births) + 'generation' (a cohort born in the same era), so the overall meaning can be inferred by someone who understands 'boom' as a rapid increase. However, the specialised sense of 'boom' applied to births and the historical/cultural reference (post‑WWII) may not be obvious to all B1 learners without prior exposure, making it only partially predictable.
Etymology
Baby-boom generation comes from the big rise in babies after World War II. People called that sudden rise a boom, so those born then were called the baby-boom generation, meaning the group of people born during that surge.