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Jul 2, 2020 13:29
3 yrs ago
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English term

Gen Z's or Gen Zers (in context)

English Marketing Advertising / Public Relations US SPANISH
Dear colleagues,

The very first sentence of a text I am proofing goes like this:

***Gen Z’s are known for being realists with an acute understanding of the issues facing our society and with the motivation and courage to lead the change.***

I believe, with a high degrees of confidence, that "Gen Zers" would be the correct option, since we are talking about the members of the generation, not about the generation itself.

Please confirm or set me straight if I am mistaken.
Responses
4 +2 Generation Z, or generation Zs, or generation Z-ers
4 +2 Generation Z
References
Zoomers
Zoomers use

Discussion

Yvonne Gallagher Jul 3, 2020:
@ Asker Agree with Sheila there is no possessive here so no apostophe. I personally would not try to use a plural noun at all but would stick to Gen Z ("people", "members", "voters" etc. added as necessary) but US English is far more lax in these matters.
Sheila Wilson Jul 2, 2020:
Gen Z'ers or Gen Zers Well, IMO, Gen Zers should be pronounced as it looks (very close to Sirs) and AFAIK it isn't. It certainly wouldn't mean a thing to me if it were (jenzirs???).
Why would you want to use Gen Z'ers? That apostrophe can only mean that it's a contraction of something. But it isn't. I've never seen it written as either Gen Zed or Gen Zee. But if you can find either of those then I guess you'll have made a case for the contraction.
George Rabel (asker) Jul 2, 2020:
@Sheila Thank you for your participation. Wouldn't the plural noun be "Gen Z'ers" or "Gen Zers."? That "Gen Z's" with the apostrophe and single s does look like a possessive, regardless of content and/or intent. Do you have anything against using Gen Z'ers?
Sheila Wilson Jul 2, 2020:
Possessive? The context doesn't involve a possessive. It's a plural noun.
George Rabel (asker) Jul 2, 2020:
@philgoddard Thanks for your suggestions, Phil. Would you care to explain why you disagree with Abdullah’s statement? The reason I ask is because I value your opinions. About the comment you added to your own answer, are you saying that there is not a meaningful distinction between how we refer to an organization versus how we refer to its members? Let's see: “Parliament is known for… ,” versus “MPs are known for… ,” versus “Parliament’s failure to…”
In my question, the apostrophe after the Z makes it a possessive, something relative to Gen Z, the generation, and not to Gen Zers, the members of said generation. That said, I agree with the awkwardness of “Zers” and I’m inclined to use the hyphen.

Responses

+2
36 mins
Selected

Generation Z, or generation Zs, or generation Z-ers

This is easily confirmed by Googling. I'd say "Z-ers" rather than "Zers", which is a bit confusing. And UK English would say Zs, without an apostrophe.

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Note added at 45 mins (2020-07-02 14:15:11 GMT)
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You say "we are talking about the members of the generation, not about the generation itself." This is not a meaningful distinction - they're one and the same. A generation is a group of people .
Peer comment(s):
agree Sheila Wilson : I can't see how "Zers" would work in British English as we'd need to be saying "zedders". For use as a plural, "Gen Zs" works better than "Gen Z", IMO
56 mins
agree Tony M
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
19 mins

Generation Z

Generation Z (aka Gen Z, iGen, or centennials), refers to the generation that was born between 1996-2010.
http://https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-z
Generation Z is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha.


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Note added at 22 mins (2020-07-02 13:52:14 GMT)
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I confirm that you are right!

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Note added at 29 mins (2020-07-02 13:59:16 GMT)
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if you are taking about the people of this generation you should say (Gen Zers)

Ex:
Gen Zers are similar to Millennials in their comfort with using gender-neutral pronouns.

Reference:
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/on-the-cusp-of-adultho...

Reference:

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far/

http://https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-z

Peer comment(s):
agree Rocsana Guignaudeau : As it's mentioned in the Wikipedia explanation. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z
14 mins
Thank you!
neutral philgoddard : Your explanation seems to contradict your answer. You say "if you are taking about the people of this generation you should say Gen Zers", which I disagree with. Any of my three alternatives is acceptable.
21 mins
Thank you! there is no contradiction, kindly notice that Gen is an abb. for Generation and (Generation Zers) is one of your alternatives, which is similar to my answer (Gen Zers) when we talk about the people or mmbrs of the generation (note to my answer)
neutral Sheila Wilson : I see a contradiction. You confirm Asker's choice, which is "Gen Zers" -- which I disagree with. OTOH, your selected term is Generation Z -- fine by me.
1 hr
yes I wrote the second note to correct that, and IMO (Generation Z and Gen Zers) both are correct and I explained the use of (Gen Zers) and i's written in this way on the ref web as below: Gen Zers are similar to Millennials in their comfort with ...etc
agree Yvonne Gallagher : I would use Gen Z. Personally I don't like "Gen Zers" at all (with or without apostrophe) but I've seen it used a few times as in your link (though there it's clear what it's referring to)
1 day 39 mins
Thank you very much!
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

Zoomers

Just putting this out there. My 17 y.o. daughter is a member of this generation, and I’m increasingly hearing “Zoomers” being used to describe them. I think it’s a combination of the Z from Generation Z plus the fact these kids are spending all their time on Zoom these days for online school, hanging with friends, etc.
Note from asker:
Thank you for your contribution, Sheri. "Zoomer" would be a viable option. In my particular example, I would not use it right off the bat, but a little farther down the text after it has been established that we are not talking about general users of the Zoom app. CheerZ!
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree Tony M : More likely of course by association with 'boomers' = those of the 'baby boom' generation
13 mins
Yes, yes, the association with ‘boomer’, too. ‘Zoomer’ is so appropriate because of all of these associations.
agree Yvonne Gallagher
1 day 12 mins
Something went wrong...
20 hrs
Reference:

Zoomers use

Generation Z is definitely in use, but I think we're seeing a sharp swerve towards referring to the people themselves as Zoomers, with a big boost in a recent American political event. I'm seeing it pop up fast in more and more places like LinkedIn business market analysis, National Geographic and a business name "Zoomers to Boomers", which is not determining in and of itself, but it's both an indicator and could create a wider impression in society.
Example sentence:

A zoomer is, in the newest use of the word, a member of Generation Z, the generation of people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud. ☺️

Reference:

https://twitter.com/aoc/status/1274499021625794565

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-were-watching-zoomer-gen-z

Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree Yvonne Gallagher
5 hrs
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