If you are reading this and you consider yourself still "down" and "hip" with the younger generation, please be advised that your day of reckoning is coming. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But some day.
Everyone goes through it. One day you feel like despite your age, you totally know how to relate to the younger crowd. And the next day you overhear some kids saying things like "I hit up Periscope and her eyebrow game was totally on fleek," and it sounds like complete gibberish to you.
(To get an idea of how out of touch we feel, you should know that we're not sure if that sentence makes any sense. We can't even fake being hip!)
In short: We're no longer shaking our ass when a good song comes on. We're shaking our canes and complaining that this guy who calls himself "2 Chainz" makes songs that are too damn loud.
(Also, we just had to ask a coworker if 2 Chainz was two people or just one dude. We're old, you guys).
When we asked other E! Online staffers the moment they realized they just didn't understand youth culture like they used to, almost everyone said it was when they had to turn to Google to find out what "on fleek" meant. But there were some other notable moments when we all realized that we will never be "with it" ever again. (Names have been withheld to protect the elderly):
1. "I had to Google 'what does bae mean?'"
2. "When my roommate's 12-year-old cousin told me I was 'seriously out of it' when I didn't know who R5 was."
3. "I'm still not sure what the frog and tea emoji combo means. I just know it's something shady."
4. "When it became apparent that Beyoncé wasn't just the successful former singer of Destiny's Child but a cultural force/role model of BOB DYLAN-BEATLES-MADONNA proportions."
5. "Two words: viral promposals."
6. "I thought when something was 'on fleek' that meant it was to be found on some new app or social media site I'd never heard of."
7. "I still don't know how to do Snapchat."
8. "When YouTube stars became actual celebrities. How and why?"
9. "I had to ask someone to explain Yik Yak to me."
10. "When it became apparent that a handful of phrases, including 'feel all the feelings,' 'so-and-so's game is on point' and 'some such thing IS EVERYTHING,' is pretty much 90 percent of the Internet."
11. "Anytime someone tells me about a new app I respond with 'but, why?'"
12. "I watched the 2013 MTV VMA's solely for the 'N Sync reunion and I realized people on Twitter didn't know Justin Timberlake used to be in a boy band."
13. "When I remember when things weren't ironic to wear (i.e. Normcore…things from the '90s, etc.)"
14. "When music festivals just seem ex-haus-ting."
15. "What does 'woe' mean? I know it's a drake song but no clue what it means. I had to Google it."
16. "When I learned about Tinder from the news."
17. "When I was at a gay bar and asked the DJ if she had Tina Turner and she basically laughed in my face!"
18. "When What's App was purchased by Facebook and there were a billion stories about it. I still don't know what it does."
19. "When I witnessed a legitimate argument about the pronunciation of 'GIF'. For what it's worth, I think it's a hard 'G'."
20. "Every reference that was ever made about Molly the drug—at first I thought it was some weird throwback love for Molly the American Girl doll"
21. "This was a while ago, but I had to Google 'selfie'."
22. "When apps like Snapchat and Periscope were created."
23. "When I found out that Calvin Harris made like $60 million last year. A DJ can make that much?"
24. "The big dress debate. I basically signed off Twitter for 24 hours after that happened."
To investigate this issue outside of our office walls and to make sure we aren't the only ones who constantly feel like we're seconds away from starting stories with "when I was your age," we decided to pose this question to our Twitter followers.
Be honest: did you have to Google BAE or ask a younger relative what ON FLEEK means? Tweet us the moment you KNEW you were no longer cool.
? E! Online (@eonline) April 27, 2015Again, more than half mentioned not knowing what "on fleek" meant. Does ANYONE know what that means?!
@eonline when I heard my youngest sister saying on fleek repeatedly. I had to ask my middle sister what the heck it meant -.- it's happening
? Seemone W (@rollmftide2012) April 27, 2015@eonline I had to google what "ship" meant
? Jenna (@jennab331) April 27, 2015@eonline when I had to google ICYMI to find out what it meant ??
? debbie allen (@mrscamwellallen) April 27, 2015@eonline When people started using "cuffing season." No. Clue. Thank you, urban dictionary!
? Angela Lavender (@annnglav) April 27, 2015@eonline I was doing a #Periscope chat & I was told multiple times that my eyebrows were "fleek." Bet your buns I Googled it. :)
? Annette Lawless (@AnnetteLawless) April 27, 2015@eonline though I use it now, that #mcm and #wcw had me lost! #Imnotthatold!
? Amanda Sutton (@MandyMSutton) April 27, 2015@eonline When I said "that's what the kids said these days..."
? Sara McKinniss (@saramckinniss) April 27, 2015@eonline When I explained to ppl that BAE isnt a bf/gf.. its Before Anyone Else... your #1. I became uncool when I explained it.
? Sapphire Grandmont (@sapphire_lynn) April 27, 2015@eonline I was playing w/ my kids today & said"Is my outfit on fleek"? They rolled their eyes & said don't ever say that again!#parentalOops
? Ana Martinez (@wofstargirl) April 27, 2015@eonline when I was called a "Trapkeeper" ?? #WTH
? K. Buffaloe Taylor (@thekellyco) April 27, 2015@eonline when I started using urban dictionary way too much
? fadzie (@fadzie_p) April 27, 2015@eonline when I did not own a selfie stick.
? Danielle Ernest (@DeeMagicGurl) April 27, 2015@eonline When I first went on social media I did not know that the colon and right parenthesis together represented a smily face. :)
? Laurie Kransky (@lulu83060) April 27, 2015@eonline when I had to have a coworker explain to me, on multiple occasions, what "turn down for what" meant last year.. and I'm only 24. ??
? Chelsea Jenkins (@cm_jenkins) April 27, 2015Also, shout-out to these Twitter users who made the same joke and burned us real good:
@eonline When I started watching E! lol
? yodaterrell (@yodaterrell) April 27, 2015@eonline when I started watching E!
? Andrea Chereneh (@andreachereneh) April 27, 2015Your turn! Fess up, guys. What was the moment you realized you were completely out of touch with youths? It was probably followed by a moment where you realized you were 100 percent fine with having no idea what kids today are talking about.