Baby boomer嬰兒潮世代 >>英語文化>>英語>>外語愛好者網站

英文詞滙學習：Babyboomer 嬰兒潮世代
Meaning意思
A person born during the temporary peak in the birth-rate that occurred several countries following WWII, notably the USA and the UK.

Origin起源
A 'baby boom' is any temporary increase in the birth-rate and that term was in use some time before WWII. A 'baby boom' was reported in various newspapers in England in the 1920s; for example, this piece, reprinted in The Coshocton Tribune, April 1920:

There is a 'baby boom' in London. Births during the first six months of this year have broken all records.

'The Baby Boom' - as opposed to 'a baby boom', refers to the increase in population in the countries that were victorious in WWII. The period is generally regarded as beginning in 1946 and ending in the mid-1960s.

There are citations of the term being used in the USA prior to or very early in WWII. At first sight these tend to contradict the view that it referred to the increase in the birth-rate due to the war. Logic would suggest that any baby boom couldn't begin until at least nine months after war had become inevitable and the USA had declared itself neutral in 1939. Those 1939/40 references to a 'baby boom' don't relate to a boom in the number of babies though, but to a small boom in the stock market. This growth in the economy caused by an upsurge in manufacturing caused by increased trade with Europe due to WWII. This 'baby boom' was widely reported in the US press in late 1939 and early 1940; for example, this item from The Syracuse Herald-Journal, April 1940:

'Stocks with a war flavor bounded up to more than 4 points in today's early market, In the fastest sprint since the 'baby boom' of last fall, but the majority stumbled badly in the latter part of the proceedings.'

The 'boom' in babies didn't wait until servicemen returned from the war, as is popularly supposed. There was a temporary increase in the birth-rate when the US effectively entered the war in 1941, as reported by The Galveston Daily News in December, 1941 - 'Baby Boom Increases Population of U. S.'. There was some speculation of the cause of this at the time and some commentators put it down to men trying to avoid the draft by becoming parents - an unsuccessful ploy if true, as many new fathers were drafted into the forces in WWII.

The term 'baby boomer' was coined in the USA, clearly with reference to the already widely known 'baby boom'. This wasn't for some years after WWII and the earliest citation I've found is surprisingly late - a piece in The Bennington Banner from December 1977:

'I grew up in suburban Massachusetts, a postwar baby boomer not used to seeing empty seats in classrooms or enough textbooks to go around.'

The term 'baby boomer' was initially used simply with reference to the peaks in birth-rate in the USA and UK. Over time, the connotations of the term have widened. The major economic, social and demographic changes that have been lived through by the postwar generations in the Western world have given the 'baby boomers' a unique position. They are healthier and wealthier than previous generations and can look forward to an active old-age that was denied previous generations, and also probably future ones as western economies struggle to maintain pension provision. The 'boomers' also developed rebellious, anti-establishment attitudes which have been carried on into older age, which is in contrast with a previous more deferential society and late 20th century apathy.

The 'baby boom' has led on to other expressions - 'baby bust' and 'echo boom'. These refer respectively to the period of relative low birth-rate in the 1950s which resulted in low school enrolments in the 1960s and the high birth-rates in the 1970s, when the original baby boomers had their children. These terms were both referred to in an article in The Newark Advocate, August 1975:

'Newark was not the only school district caught by surprise by the 'baby bust.' Population experts expected the postwar baby boom children, now grown, to produce an echo boom in the 1970s.'

在二戰之前出生的美國人較爲傳統，被稱爲Silent Generation（沉靜的一代）。二戰後的美國百廢待興，很多男性從戰場返鄕，結婚生子，創造了美國史無前例的baby boom（嬰兒潮），而在此期間出生的孩子則被稱爲baby boomer（嬰兒潮世代）。人們將戰後新生活的希望寄托在baby boomers身上，因此他們從小就受到良好的教育，長大之後在美國諸多領域挑大梁。而目前baby boomers大都麪臨退休，使社會養老負擔加重。

而在baby boom之後，接踵而至的是baby bust（生育低穀），在baby bust這段時期出生的孩子被稱爲Generation X（被遺忘的一代，或X一代，20世紀60年代到70年代初出生的美國人）。這代人成長的過程，恰逢美國社會風氣偏曏於個人價值的躰現和個人幸福的實現，因此他們身上有著不同程度的不負責任、冷漠和物質主義等特點。

Generation Y（Y一代）是在Generation X之後出生的美國人，他們出生於20世紀七八十年代，伴隨著計算機以及互聯網的成長而成長。有人認爲Y一代有著更開放的文化價值觀，和新的消費方式和行爲方式，而也有些人認爲他們更加以自我爲中心，缺乏同情心和責任感。

Boom在這裡表示“激增”，例如：population boom（人口激增）。Boom還常用來指“繁榮、興旺”。最新數據表明，在這個boom town（新興城市）中，market sales begin to boom（市場銷售開始轉旺），這得益於manufacturers try to boom their goods（生産商努力宣傳産品），因此the industry enjoyed a boom（工業獲得了繁榮發展）。

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