Stereotypes In James Isaacs Cliches, Anyone?

The millennial generation is one that began in the 1980s with the first of millennials reaching young adulthood around the year 2000. Although Millennials are said to be more open minded, confident, and accepting they are also commonly described as self-absorbed, unrealistic and materialistic, lazy individuals who lead unstable lives and tend to jump from job to job. In “Clichés, Anyone?”, published on May 8th, 1998 in The Boston Globe, James Isaacs essentially writes a piece that mocks the banality of millennials. Isaacs expresses his views of millennials through clichés, satire, and a short and choppy sentence structure. It is rather obvious the writing is geared towards millennials because not only was his piece written in the year in …show more content…
“Bromides” are unoriginal ideas, and “windbaggery” is a lengthy discussion that lacks interesting content. With the use of overly complicated phrases, Isaacs essentially states that millennials lack substance and their conversations are trite.
Ironically, Isaacs concludes his piece with “End of story. To coin a phrase.” The first phrase means exactly what is states, this is the end no more will be said on the topic. The irony comes from the second phrase, which is used jokingly after a cliché or banal remark. Although Isaacs article is indeed a compilation of clichés, his work is far from obvious and boring; Isaacs uses the clichés to criticize the characteristics of the younger generation. This is further exemplified in the statement, “So at the end of the day, life is face time. But it’s also about show-me-the-money.” Which refers to the younger generations self-absorbed and materialistic