generation gap
4
3.4
- noun
- /ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən ɡæp/
:
brecha generacional
- But the generation gap leaves them incapable of innovating with technology or even using it effectively.
And, and the reason I, I think it was, was that it really did contribute to a generation gap.
- And, and the reason I, I think it was, was that it really did contribute to a generation gap.
Examples
-
The generation gap between parents and their teenagers often leads to misunderstandings.
-
We learned that technology and social media will play an increasingly important role in bridging the generation gap.
Blog text (23) -
This... must be the generation gap.
-
I believe they call it the generation gap.
-
The problem was the generation gap.
Fiction book (1993) -
No evidence was found of a sharp generation gap.
Academic text (2008) -
We're having one of our generation gap evenings.
-
You know, if parents would just relax and listen to a little Who and the Cheap Trick, then this whole generation gap would be over.
-
A 'generation gap' is frequently identified as the reason for the decline in communication.
Academic text (1993) -
In Growing Up Digital, Donald Tapscott (1997) describes a generation gap, in which children are authorities lapping adults in all areas involving technology.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
365
1.7
A difference between two groups or amounts
Antonyms
How Strong
147
4.7
397
2.3
105
3.2
4
3.4
509
3.2
565
1.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'generation' (a cohort of people born in the same era) + 'gap' (a disparity or gulf), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a disparity between generations. This construction and sense are cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'brecha generacional'), so it is immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
The noun generation gap comes from the image of a wide gap, a space, between one generation and the next. So, like a space you cannot cross easily, it now means 'a difference of opinions, values, or attitudes between young people and their parents'.