gen-Z stare

If you have ever been confronted by a blank stare from a young person in response to something you have said, then you may have experienced the Gen-Z stare.  There are many explanations offered for this stare but the general opinion seems to be that it is the equivalent of D’uh! in non-verbal form.  In retail it is translated as ‘your request is impossible so just go away!’.  In other circumstances it might be read as ‘what you just said is so stupid I don’t feel that there is any response worth making!’.  A kinder interpretation is that it is a way of buying time while the Gen Zedder thinks out what to make of a comment and how to respond to it — which would make them more stupid than most of us.

The stare first appeared on TikTok in July this year and caused some discussion. Some blame the social isolation of Covid which has resulted in Gen Z not being able to handle the small verbal exchanges that grease the wheels of sociability.  A GenZedder, when interviewed, said that the stare didn’t convey anything but was a disconnect from things that annoyed her. And that wasn’t rude. Who needs greetings or small talk anyway?