About
“Le Wrong Generation” is a pejorative label used to refer to youths and young adults who believe and often proclaim that they should have been born in a different time period, mainly due to their disdain for contemporary music and popular culture.
Origin
The earliest known use of the term “le wrong generation” was posted on March 2nd, 2013 in a thread on 4chan’s /mu/[6] (music) board in reference to a YouTube video of a child complaining about being born in the wrong generation. The video has since been removed.
Spread
On August 15th, 2013, the /r/lewronggeneration[1] subreddit was launched to satirize teens and children who wish they had been born in a different time period. On November 8th, the /r/lerightgeneration[10] subreddit was created for discussions about “senseless hatred of older pop culture.” On January 15th, 2014, 9gag[7] user Tobiasaasen submitted a Confession Bear image macro with the caption “Im born in 1997 / and I hate my generation” (shown below). On August 13th, a screenshot of the 9gag post was submitted to /r/lewronggeneration,[8] where it gained over 1,300 votes (93% upvoted) and 180 comments in the following four months.
On January 5th, 2015, YouTuber Filthy Frank uploaded a video titled “Born in the Wrong Generation,” in which he rants about teens who complain about their generation’s taste in music in YouTube comments (shown below). In the first 24 hours, the video gathered upwards of 161,000 views and 5,000 comments.
“Defener”
A “defener” (an intentional misspelling of “defenders”) refers to people that consider old culture superior to current pop culture and belittle anything current. The phrase come from a rage comic created circa 2012. The earliest found instance of the rage comic was first found at /mu/ in June 2012 but has been created earlier than that. [11] The image was later reposted to reddit’s /r/cringepics on December 15, 2012, receiving over 1000 upvotes and 197 comments. [12]
Notable Examples
Related Meme: Dadrock
“Dadrock” refers to classic rock music produced in the 1960’s and 1970’s, including Led Zepplin, the Rolling Stones and Beatles, which is commonly associated with baby boomer generation adults who have a disdain for all other types of music. On January 21st, 2004, the term was submitted to Urban Dictionary[3] by user donth, who claimed “Dad rockers have no desire to listen to recent music and are stuck in the past.” An infographic titled “A Dadrocker Guide To Modern Music” is often seen circulating on 4chan’s /mu/ (music) board, which lists several albums that should be given to dad rockers to expand their music tastes (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1]Reddit – r/lewronggeneration
[2]PitchFork – Wilco – Sky Blue Sky review
[3]Urban Dictionary – dad rock
[4]Billboard – Op-Ed: Why ‘Dad Rock’ Became 2014’s Put-Down Du Jour
[5]RateYourMusic – The official list of dad rock
[6]4chandata – /mu/ Music
[7]9gag – It has to be said
[8]Reddit – Amazing Maymay on 9gag
[9]Neckbeard News – Teenager reveals that he was born into the wrong generation
[10]Reddit – /r/lerightgeneration
[11]RB Tech – Comic Thread
[12]Reddit – The music defender