Thirtysomething (term)

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For the television show of the same name, see Thirtysomething (TV series).

The term thirtysomething was initially introduced during the 1980s to describe a person of the baby boom generation, born during the 1940s and 1950s. It has now entered common usage in the English language to describe a person between the ages of 30 and 39.

Almost immediately after the introduction of the 1980s television show, Thirtysomething, the term became a catch phrase used to designate baby boomers in their thirties. This cultural shift was reinforced by the Oxford English Dictionary, which added "thirtysomething" in 1993 (under the word "thirty") and defined the term as follows:

popularized as a catch-phrase by the U.S. television programme thirtysomething, first broadcast in 1987...applied to members of the baby boom generation entering their thirties in the mid-1980s; also attrib. or as adj. phr. (hence, characteristic of the tastes and lifestyle of this group).

The term twentysomething was introduced shortly afterward to describe a younger group. This was initially applied to Generation X, but the term twentysomething now means members of Generation Y.

The current crop of thirtysomethings are people born from June 14, 1968 to June 13, 1978 (mostly considered as Generation X).

[edit] Trivia

On the model of quadragenarian for 40-49 years old, quinquagenarian for 50-59, and so on, "tricenarian" could be a valid term, but is not in common use. (although it does exist in some other languages; cf. French trentenaire.)