Betamax players and hair metal bands may be trapped in the 1980’s, but the term yuppie, meaning young urban professional, is alive and well. Dink, meaning dual income, no kids, is also worth throwing around in a marketing presentation. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Yuppies and Dinks”
Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Martha. This is Hillary. I’m calling from Cleveland,
Ohio, and I had a question about a word. Well, great, Hillary. Bring it. Shoot. What you got?
So the word is yuppie. And my husband and I were talking because he had read an article
About a new word that was trying to get created, which was yucky. And they said that they came up
With this word because of the root of the original word, which was yuppie, which came from
Young urban professionals. And that just sounded interesting to me that young urban professionals
Was translated into yuppie. So I had a question if that’s where it really came from. And what’s a
Yucky? A young urban creative. So they’re saying that that’s a new word that they want to sort of
Create because people aren’t young urban professionals anymore, but they’re young urban
Creatives. Okay. Okay. And does that include you and your husband? I mean, I guess so. They’re
Trying to do away with the word hipster.
So they’re trying to bring in this new culture of we’re young and professional, but we’re
Still creative.
So I guess that’s kind of a word.
Yeah, because yucky doesn’t sound negative at all.
Right.
I know.
I wouldn’t want to be called a yucky, but that’s just me.
Professional but creative.
I don’t know about that word.
Yeah, yuppie is from young and professional.
The first use that we have in print is from 1980.
There was a writer for Chicago Magazine named Dan Rottenberg, and I’ve actually talked to
Him about the word yuppie. And he is always really honest to say, I did not invent this word. It was
Floating in the air. I don’t know who I got it from. But he is so far the first use that we found
Of yuppie in print. Straight up from the beginning in 1980, it’s used the same way that we use it
Today, which is young people who’ve got jobs. Maybe they haven’t started a family yet. They’re
Really focused on a household. They’re really focused on great living quarters and a great
Living environment and building their careers.
I remember when that was a brand new shiny word and everybody was using it.
But now, I mean, really, do people still?
People do use it totally.
Yuppie is totally.
I thought yuppies grew up and became old, you know.
What?
Curmudgeonly, you know, people closer to our age.
What are you saying to that being?
And I was talking with my mom about it,
And she said that it was really popular in the 90s with another word also,
Which was dink, double income, no kids.
Right, or dual income, no kids.
Yeah, also used, still used.
But it really just depends what field you’re in.
Like if you’re in marketing, these terms are everywhere.
So you think that generation, we’re going to have generation after generation of yuppies?
I thought maybe it would sort of go the way of, I don’t know.
No, but it’s a great identity.
It’s that particular period post-college when you’re building a career and you haven’t yet started a family.
And you really have all of this money that you’re putting into a household.
Or that you’re putting into savings or you’re putting into buying nice things like the really nice espresso machine.
That sort of stuff.
That particular time of your life.
But now they’re Malpies.
Malpies.
Malpies.
They’re middle-aged urban professionals.
Yeah, well, I don’t know.
Or maybe they’re suburban.
I don’t know.
Do you think it’s kind of moved away because we kind of live in a culture now where students aren’t getting jobs right out of college and things like that?
And they aren’t making all that money right away?
There’s a question.
Well, some aren’t.
Our engineer is high-fiving us.
Some aren’t, but many are.
The thing is, yuppie is still used.
It still refers to a particular type of person.
And it spawned a lot of derivative terms, and most of them have failed to catch on.
I’m surprised you don’t hear dink more because I feel like nowadays it’s more accepted that people are double income, no kids.
Yep, I agree with you there, Hillary.
And so that’s surprising to me.
Yeah, I agree.
I think that seems to have more.
Well, Hillary, thanks for the call.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you.
It was great talking to you guys.
I’ve added yucky to my Word file list just to keep track of it.
Good, I’m glad.
All right.
Thanks, Hillary.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
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