GENERATION SNOWFLAKE

What Does Generation Snowflake Mean?

Generation Snowflake (or the Snowflake Generation) is a pejorative term used to insult young adults (typically university or college students) who allegedly try to avoid emotional topics or contrary opinions in order to avoid becoming stressed. The word Snowflake is a metaphor, used to imply fragility.

When compared to previous generations of students, members of Generation Snowflake are allegedly:

• Overly sensitive.
• Less mentally robust.
• More likely to declare mental-health problems.

To protect Generation Snowflake, some universities have created "safe spaces," which are areas that allow individuals who feel marginalized to come together to communicate regarding their experiences. Some universities have also taken to announcing "trigger warnings" (TW) to indicate that material (e.g., work or a lecture) may contain concepts or pictures that could invoke mental trauma.

In November 2015, this video from Yale University, showing a confrontation between a Yale faculty head and a screaming student went viral and played a notable role in the term Generation Snowflake coming to prominence: The term Snowflake Generation featured in the Collins Dictionary's 2016 words of the year.

Image for Generation Snowflake

When I write Generation Snowflake, I mean this:

University or college students who try to avoid emotional topics to stop themselves becoming stressed.

Summary of Key Points

"Mentally Non-robust Students Born in the 80s or 90s" is the most common definition for Generation Snowflake on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Generation Snowflake
Definition:	Mentally Non-robust Students Born in the 80s or 90s
Type:	Slang Word (Jargon)
Guessability:	3: Guessable
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Examples of Generation Snowflake in Sentences

Here is an example of Generation Snowflake being used in a conversation:

• Dean: You can't discuss race issues in front of Generation Snowflake without issuing trigger warnings.
• Faculty Head: Has it really come to this?

An Academic Look at Generation Snowflake

The term Generation Snowflake is a noun. It can be written Generation Snowflake or Snowflake Generation.

Example of Generation Snowflake Used in a Text

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