Can You Tell the Difference Between Gen Z Texts and Boomer Texts?

Taylor Tomlinson challenges Adam Pally, Blair Socci, and Ron Funches to differentiate between text messages from Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.
#AfterMidnight #TaylorTomlinson #Comedy
Subscribe to the "After Midnight" Channel: bit.ly/42hqlyx
Watch full episodes of "After Midnight": bit.ly/48QsrqQ
Follow “After Midnight” on Threads: bit.ly/3HkKvh9
Follow “After Midnight” on Instagram: bit.ly/48Qsz9O
Follow “After Midnight” on TikTok: bit.ly/4215e3a
Like “After Midnight” on Facebook: bit.ly/3HmTajh
Watch After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson weeknights at 12:37/11:37c, after The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, on CBS and Paramount Plus.
---
AFTER MIDNIGHT is the smartest show on television about the dumbest things on the internet. With celebrated comedian Taylor Tomlinson at the helm and a panel of guests from the worlds of entertainment, comedy, music and beyond, AFTER MIDNIGHT is a late-night comedy series about what set the internet abuzz that day with a game show feel. AFTER MIDNIGHT airs Monday through Friday, 12:37-1:37 AM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and streams live on Paramount+.

[@marce0830]

Blair deserved at least 500 points for the "not very Hufflepuff of them" comment

[@herz5159]

she got them though-

[@PkmnMstr10]

Well good thing she got 300 then.

[@b-meaker99]

This Ravenclaw approves that message

[@Rainbowgrrl]

@@PkmnMstr10300 is significantly less than ‘at least 500’ though? Like only just above half, so why’s that a good thing then

[@trent_k]

@@Rainbowgrrlbecause the system gives out set numbers of points and there is no prize for winning

[@12feetup]

"You stole woke and made it negative" THANK YOU FOR SAYING IT RON

[@traditionalnative]

Seriously 😢

[@alllscination]

I didn't know that! Maybe we should take that word back from white right wingers then and use the word in the positive sense again.

[@12feetup]

The craziest thing is people on the right don't recognize that they're basically arguing we need to put everyone back to sleep. The term is about being aware and educated, and they blatantly don't want that.

[@12feetup]

@@alllscination It's a little more complicated than that. "Woke" was a term specifically used by Black American social justice movements. Even before the term was stolen by right-wing pundits, it had started to be watered down by people in various other movements. So it was already a pretty loaded word, and "taking it back" is not so simple, unfortunately

[@rhyscooper3693]

It was about class consciousness, but put into AAVE. It's now derogatory because it's associated with idealistic liberalism

[@lexi219]

I should have known the third one was a trick. My first thought was "holy shit, that's aggressively millennial."

[@ConstantChaos1]

I knee it was one of us taking the piss immediately lol

[@tonilee1013]

My mom once didn't tell me my granny was in the hospital because she thought I saw it on the Facebook prayer group... I found out 3 days later when she causally mentioned it

[@panampace]

The boomers love their Facebook groups. One time my boomer neighbor knocked on the door with my roommate’s wallet. His wife saw a post on Facebook from another boomer stating they found a wallet at the grocery store, recognized my roommate’s name, and picked it up for us cuz she was nearby. All in the span of an hour, before my roommate even realized it was missing.

[@heylolp9]

That threatening boomer ellipsis at the end there was obvious...

[@raitchison]

Actually suspected it was a zoomer making fun of how boomers text.

[@AdrianColley]

"Not very Hufflepuff of them". I am slain.

[@chovue2363]

ok boomer.

[@AdrianColley]

Honestly, these all look like they were written by a single gen-Z person in imitation of the other generations.

[@claudegrenier3180]

POINTS!

[@evankraabel5415]

I'd go with very young millennial, cause that's what I am and I could have written all of these.

[@timespaceanomaly]

The extra tell on the last one being Boomer is the overuse of "..."

[@collyflower6623]

"Because Internet" by Gretchen McCulloch has a great dive on generational internet language, highly recommend

[@spacecadetMD]

Yes, fantastic book!

[@MM-jf1me]

Sounds cool. Thanks for the rec.

[@tdawry]

The guy asking "what generation are *we*" 😅

[@mtaur4113]

Oregon Trail Xennial actually.

[@lizwrites2463]

yeah he’s gen x…..if they’d answered his question properly he would’ve gotten it right 😢

[@mtaur4113]

@@lizwrites2463 Extremely borderline. And saying "we" invited TT into the grouping, which makes it much more millennial.

[@lizwrites2463]

@@mtaur4113 true

[@HonoredMule]

Way too many Gen-X get told they're millennials, and even the official date ranges are BS. Just another typical case of Gen-X erasure.

[@digthemedium]

First of all, always have Ron Funches, as he is one of our most delightful humans. Second: all of those Gen X emojis and whatnot come from Yahoo chatrooms because we are the generation that yahooed on netscape before we googled on chrome.

[@rhyscooper3693]

ICQ, AOL, MSN messenger

[@squee599]

They are called emoticons!!!!

[@digthemedium]

@@squee599 I know, but all the whippersnappers get mad when you don't call them emojis.

[@PaleBlueDot14]

What is Yahoo

[@rhyscooper3693]

@@PaleBlueDot14 yahoo was a wonderful alternative to Google, and they had fun online games for free

[@jso6790]

Guilty of using the typed emoji, and yep, born right at the end of Gen-X

[@boydstephensmithjr]

I'm from 1980, we had to emoji when there weren't any images! It's a permanent habit now.

[@1midnightfish]

@@boydstephensmithjr Early Gen X here, I refused to get a smartphone until I think a smartphone... got me (2 years ago), so I used those a lot for years! I still do sometimes, out of nostalgia or maybe an allergy to yellow. Weren't they called "emoticons" back in the day, or is that a middle-aged fever dream I had...?

[@boydstephensmithjr]

@@1midnightfish Yeah, emoticon is definitely a word we used in the past. I think it predates emoji, but I don't know. I'm also not sure if there is a technical difference, historically or currently.

[@raitchison]

I do this all the time as an early GenXer

[@1midnightfish]

​@@raitchison :-)

[@dennisfox8673]

Text emojis were called emoticons. I still think ; ) is a little less creeper than 😜 and a little less over-the-top than 🤪. But as Gen X I’m not really too invested in any of it. ;)

[@MM-jf1me]

Is 😜 supposed to be ;) ? I always assumed it was an interpretation of ;p or ;D

[@Zaihanisme]

@@MM-jf1mecorrect!

[@petecoogan]

I'm surprised she mentioned Gen X at all.

[@solvseus]

The fact that no one else has replied or liked your post yet is very gen X

[@evankraabel5415]

​@@solvseusbro why were you replying to a gen x earlier? Kaitlyn saw y'all and now everyone is talking about how weird that is. Even Harper, blayziken, and Gjerry heard about it.

[@themaggattack]

The original @Midnight was made during Gen X. So maybe that's why they remembered we exist? ...Or maybe we never really did exist... ...Maybe we were all just an unaired episode of the X Files? And nobody even knows the X Files ever existed... or The Twilight Zone... or The Far Side... or The Matrix... or anything that happened before y2k. It's all just become memes... memes that have taken on completely different meanings now. Maybe nothing was ever real? HELP!

[@petecoogan]

@@solvseus our parents didn't know where we were, what we were doing, or who we were with. And we liked it. Also, I once paid a nickel for a candy bar.n

[@evankraabel5415]

@@petecoogan gimme 5 bees for a quarter, we'd say, cause didn't have any nickels, due to the war effort. I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time, and I was headed over to Shelbyville.

[@fleurymarc]

"text emoji" ... Come on! They're called emoticons. (Yes, Gen X)

[@AnnaNicole.]

As an elder millennial, I was also scarred by this referencing of emoticons as emoji.

[@lindsayface4750]

I’m 31 and still call them emoticons on the regular 😅

[@gulcecicekbalak783]

As an elder gen z, i can't stress enough how 3:02 attacked me so much cuz its literally me... i'm half millenial and half gen z so i'm not accepted as none of them

[@tuckercase2449]

Yeah, the fact that grandma fell and you didn't in turn feel urgency and consequence in telling me, in turn tells me you're a boomer. Either call and explain or wait until we're doing lunch at that crappy Mexican joint you love.

[@panampace]

Yeah what’s with boomers and loving terrible restaurants?

[@MelissaVanStee]

"Text emojis" is not a thing, guys! They're called emoticons.

[@rhyscooper3693]

I was grossed out with the transition of the term from "emoticon" to "emoji"

[@davidt3956]

@@rhyscooper3693 But that's not as bad as one social media platform. Overheard at the office, "I heard Jerry was arrested and charged with being a Pinterest."

[@Hephaestus26]

Very millennial of them

[@silvercakes]

@@rhyscooper3693 It's just a Japanese loanword that we thought was cute. "e-" means picture in this reading, and "moji" means character or word. It has no etymological relation to "emoticon".

[@WhatsOn427]

Adam is losing by a lot more than people are usually losing by at this point in the show

[@fancifuldevices]

At least he stopped calling @ an ampersand (&).

[@ConstantChaos1]

Yeah he spent the shole show doing an antagonistic bit, it was hilarious imo, but Taylor had a different opinion lol

[@nbuehster]

It's not "Adam". It's "@dam".😁

[@verslalchimie5824]

As a boomer, I only know what a boomer and maybe a millenial would do. I have no idea what defines X through Z. Oh...and grandma fell

[@sapphireriddles6692]

In age brackets, oldest to youngest, it goes boomers, gen x, gen y/millenials, gen z. Millenials is the name used for gen y. Gen x basically doesn't have one - at least not a widely recognized one - and gen z had multiple floated that i know of but zoomers seems to have been settled on.

[@Tasarran]

I'm right in the middle of Gen X; I'm trying to reform from using the text emojis...

[@Nandomo321]

When Taylor said, "I didn't know they knew about Harry Potter," I couldn't help but add on, "Because none of them can read."

[@kashiichan]

They know about Harry Potter, they just aren't into it. Particularly since so many are into activism and the author is a huge TERF now.

[@MagisterJoe]

Funches is in his PF Tompkins era

[@kenneths2019]

Had to like just for the, “…not very Huffkepuff of them…” 😂

[@evansfamily8156]

To be strictly accurate, grandma IS a boomer.

[@Dermatillomaniac]

Well it depends on which generation you are!

[@melaniedejonge5234]

I guess I am DEFINITELY Gen X because I know that “typed out emojis” are actually called emoticons.

[@ItsJustNeill]

This is the best!!! More comedians , mix in an actor promote whatever you want. But this was all stars episode! Adam is hilarious, Blair is to funny, and Ron knows he’s killed. Come on Taylor!! Bring more of your peeps

[@JerryPallath]

Great panel! love all these people!

[@abigailkaterbergcolibaba]

"i didnt know they knew about harry potter" you take that back right now!!! I had just finished kindergarten when the Deathly Hallows was first published. I was RAISED on those books

[@rhyscooper3693]

I was 11 when Harry was 11 in the Philosophers Stone as it was in cinemas

[@LFDNC]

I was an adult. 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@sarahgrimm1402]

I was also raised on those books, it's what got me into reading! I may not have been born when the first one came out in 1998, but I am a Potterhead through and through

[@shch1673]

I call foul. Any legit Gen X text will have two spaces after a period.

[@omfglongbeach]

In the US? I've never heard that stereotype in my life.

[@ericepperson8409]

​@@omfglongbeach Depends on if you had to take a typing class in school. It was enforced 2 spaces after a period in my High School. More tech savvy Gen X though have adopted to single spacing after the period. But most still use proper punctuation in written communications.

[@davidt3956]

"not very Hufflepuff." 🤣

[@LaurennM360]

That is exactly how my boomer mom texts me 😂

[@traditionalnative]

The bacon ninja gave it away 😂😭

[@user-ck4gu1en4i]

New level unlocked😂

[@McSistant]

Love this game!!! Play it more!!!

[@Seetiyan]

For that trick question, I was thinking it was a younger millennial or an older Gen Z, say, someone who's between 25-35.The oldest millenials may have just barely missed Harry Potter, and the youngest Z's might not know much about it. But surprises can happen.

[@rileyluver16]

I am 32, and my age was peak Harry Potter. First movie came out at 11. Little brother is 28, definitely knows all the houses. It's the younger Gen Z who don't know it.

[@sarahgrimm1402]

I'm 22, and I definitely know about Harry Potter, know my house and will fight anyone who says Slytherin is where all the evil people go. Most of my friends who are all my age or maybe a year younger also know about Harry Potter.

[@BlanBonco]

GenX represent :-0 coffee at 4:45pm sounds great. Well caffiene all the time....

[@jgek37]

Poor Adam; I feel like the cusp folks between X & Millennials really are our own thing. Such a deep blend of the two.

[@nbuehster]

I think you mean "Poor @dam; I feel like the cusp folks between X & Millennials really are our own thing. Such a deep blend of the two.".😁

[@kenji.m-72]

Love this segment :-)

[@darrenwells3642]

😂 Adam asking for a list of all the generation options is so being in your 40’s. I turned 41 this year and my memory has TANKED

[@nbuehster]

It's "@dam".

[@victoriaalicewestwood3558]

I like using emojis and I am not embarrassed by it 🤯😂 so there.

[@lisadawne]

I KNEW I RECOGNIZED ADAM PALLY... THATS GARY THE CAMERAMAN!!!! 🤣

[@maybenaught]

Ah, that's not an emoji, it's an emoticon!

[@johndeacon1496]

Blair needs her own show!😄

[@kingdollop-head743]

I use text emojis, and I’m gen Z. I don’t ever put the dash nose though

[@panampace]

Let’s be honest :0 is a totally different expression from 😮 The real millennial thing is emoticons like >_< and o_O

[@animated_anna]

This is such a good idea for a game. I wanna play!!

[@AnnNunnally]

You should do this again!

[@heroclix0rz]

The second one sounded like it was from United Airlines.

[@kristenblount8422]

I'm genX & I went emoticon crazy from day 1. Who doesn't like a random game of pictionary to make life interesting: 🏃‍♂️‍➡️🏡🐕💩🛏

[@Lawfair]

I am absolutely fixated on the question of whether "grandma" is the boomer's parent or spouse, or is the recipient the boomers child or grandchild. As someone with very central boomer parents, I know that my grandparents would be dead by now even if they hadn't died 40+ years ago. On the other hand I can't imagine my parents being so out of touch as to send the rest of the text to their grandchildren. Although to be fair my father can't even access his phone and my mother only uses texts as a chatroom with her friends, so I don't see them texting anyone anything.

[@erstwhile3793]

I'm just trying to process the fact that I got em all right. Can't text right to save my life, according to my Millenial and Gen Z kids... but apparently some part of my brain knows who does it which way? And yes. The ellipses were deliberate there.

[@cathys4217]

A real Gen X text would be nothing, or a string of received texts with no response…

[@tullamore949]

The greatest generation is still alive, but I guess they don’t text

[@user-ku6tr4vd6z]

They're still trying to master remote controls, forget about smartphones.

[@barrettpickett5603]

I Agree send that list. So that we know what generation we are on.

[@rosemeow4166]

They are called “emoticons” - GenX

[@joystarrturk]

Amazing. They remembered gen x ;)

[@LaPrincipessaNuova]

I keep getting suggested videos from this and the concepts sound funny, and then they’re executed so poorly, and then instead of answering questions in funny ways, they just answer them in a tone as if they’ve made a joke that _they_ think is really funny.

[@Rachaelshaw7]

I feel so sorry for her that she had to fake laugh that often

[@jtpotts617]

Adam was almost right if he’s 41 when he said “my generation.”

[@ace-of-bats]

At 41, he's a Xennial; we're definitely emoticon users from our AOL Instant Messenger days :)

[@nbuehster]

It's "@dam".

[@tomscott4438]

A co-worker asked me if I watched this show. I said "no, never". They said "I thought you liked Taylor's comedy?". I said, "I do, but as a boomer, I take enough crap from you idiots by just coming to work". I get it. I'm old and out of touch. I should just get out of the way and make room for the next generation. But it's so much more fun to keep showing you up while you continue to underestimate me and my generation. (BTW, our secret plan is to live into our 90's, bleed Social Security dry, and leave you... nothing)

[@user-oe9le7lp8o]

I want more examples!

[@AnnNunnally]

Yall should give the boomers credit since they actually learned how to text.

[@Irene-eu4iz]

Jam is for any generation 😂

[@panampace]

Boomer: Hunts for minutes for the perfect emoji that nobody even knows exists Gen X: :) Millennial: 😂😂🔥🔥🔥💯 Gen Z: 💀

[@Elmerphant]

Adam winning the game lol. Committing hard to the bit is epic.

[@nbuehster]

It's "@dam".

[@ladylove34]

Gen X uses the most emojis BY FAR. Millenials tens to use one literal emoji after a sentence. Gen Z use more nuanced emojis. Also, thanks, Ron, for bringing up how white people stole "king" and "queen," which were terms Black people used to uplift one another as we face racism for our skin color 😵‍💫

[@aendery2k130]

I love him, but is Ron auditioning to be the Riddler later?

[@phillipsafarik9448]

Blair is an younger blonde Sarah Silverman

[@tenkarabadger5244]

Solid.

[@alicat825]

Didn’t know Adam Pally was 🥵

[@angelaglaros]

Adam seems to hate being there.

[@serenitygilles7064]

probably cause Blaire won't stop shoving and yelling at him lol

[@nbuehster]

It's "@dam". And I don't care if he hated being there. He made this the funniest episode of this show.

[@aud9851]

I think my gen-dar is broken because I’m a zillennial who went to college with both millennials and zoomers.

[@victoriaalicewestwood3558]

Omg Gen-dar!

[@gaileybruce]

Taylor needs a takeaway points button.

[@nbuehster]

The panelists do get points taken away sometimes. I don't know how though. Maybe there is a takeaway points button.

[@sleepysera]

I guess based on this I fell out of time, because all of these are very much part of how I normally text 😅 Grew up before smartphones so emoticons are my jam, but I still use emojis quite a bit as well, definitely am guilty of the agressively open-ended boomer sentences too... but just like Gen Z I'd die of shame if I ever used Harry Potter analogies or complained about "adulting" xD I guess that's just the fate of Cuspers, to always be kinda lost between generations 🙃

[@Zaihanisme]

Cusper here too, of the xennial variety and I'm either confused or have absorbed all the worst of boomer-z generational traits halppp

[@julianpena411]

I'm offended!

[@renob422003]

King, was initially said by white people.... In fact, listen to "Dancing Queen" song.

[@adinal1958]

That last one was kind of a gimme.

[@Rainbowgrrl]

What the hell is ijbol meant to stand for?!

[@swithheld9905]

i just burst out laughing...because lol is peak cringe millennial i guess? (and yes i had to look that up.) signed, an Xennial

[@krisztianunpronounceable]

Gen X'er here!

[@alllscination]

There are so many Gen Z's making Harry Potter skits now. Are they just making fun of us Gen Y's? I thought if you build on the material you gotta at least appreciate it somewhat.

[@alhypo]

Adam was thrown off because he is an elder millennial as am I. And elder millennials identify better with Gen X since we didn't have technology during our childhoods. We still got to play outside and wander freely around the neighborhood or even off into the woods.

[@nbuehster]

It's "@dam".

[@KarmaCifer]

4/4 right

[@Frorten]

For christ's sake they're called emoticons read a book

[@massachusettssportscentral9444]

Okay Boomer

[@LolTollhurst]

What like _Harry Potter???_ terf lol

[@1midnightfish]

Aha I thought so! Thanks

[@JoaoPessoa86]

​@@massachusettssportscentral9444GEN X! Were you not paying attention?

[@JDMimeTHEFIRST]

Btw, your grandma died. Are you coming to the funeral. It’s Thursday.

[@benedixtify]

Adam is salty

[@benedixtify]

At-fter midnight?

[@Ryan-wx1bi]

Why do these girls have so much work done that their upper lips never move? It looks weird

[@andrewbaker5493]

New title idea. Adam ruins everything.

[@nbuehster]

@dam ruins everything

[@MisterLobb]

Yeah. I grudgingly use emojis. :( Anything more than that is too much effort.

[@MisterLobb]

Plus, I can’t teli the difference between all those yellow circles

[@SlicedZucchini]

haha

[@archangel1of7]

Adam is my spirit animal

[@fini8874]

I don't get this whole generation discussion between Millennials and Gen Z. As if Harry Potter is known EXCLUSIVELY by official millennials and as soon as you are born after 1996 (which is apparently the limit for millennials as everyone says even though it should be 2000???) you have never heard about it? :'D Many 16 year-olds today are crazy about Harry Potter in case noone has noticed ...

[@user-yx1sw7hv6w]

i've never been more proud of gen z than when blair said we don't know about harry potter. we have left the TERF behind

[@mystuff9999]

Good for you 🙄

[@maryjanerx]

WHY ARE THESE CLIPS NOT IN ORDER ON KZbin!!!!??????

[@NickDoddTV]

They are in playlist in order the morning after the show (now)

[@WestOfEarth]

Adam trying to be that guy who doesn't believe in generation designations

[@nbuehster]

It's "@dam".

[@dumattco]

Taylor threw off the first guy. When he asked what generation are we, he’s actually gen X, not millennial, so he would’ve had the right answer!🤪

[@katyc.4842]

no he's millennial according to google

[@emw8386]

@@katyc.4842there's like 10 different definitions about what a "real millennial" is, personally i like the alternate word "xennial" for the '79-'83 cuspers among us

[@dumattco]

All I know is I am 43 and I’m definitely not a millennial 🤪

[@mhawang8204]

I’ll be 42 in a month but I’m a millennial, the oldest millennial there is 😭

[@dumattco]

@@mhawang8204 well, I guess that means 1980 is the cut off! 😎🤪

[@13blackcatzzz]

I'm still crushing on Adam as Max. Iykyk.