Generation Gap

It seems that marketers can’t get enough of talking about different generations and coming up with more descriptive terms for them. But is everyone keeping up with the correct way to write these terms? Test your knowledge.

What’s the correct way to write the two generations listed below?

1. millennials, gen zers

2. millennials, gen Zers

3. Millennials, Gen Zers

4. millennials, Gen Zers

It’s the fourth option, “millennials, Gen Zers.” A common misconception is that the generational terms “baby boomers” and “millennials” are capitalized, but they’re not, according to the AP Stylebook and most dictionaries. The “Gen” names are because they originate from the title of a novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, published by Douglas Coupland in 1991. So, remember, “millennial” and “baby boomer,” lowercase; “Gen Xer” and “Gen Zer,” uppercase.