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A teacher asked 7th graders what 40-year-olds do for fun and their answers are merciless

Elder millennials are feeling attacked, but the kids aren't exactly wrong.

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7th grade students guessed what hobbies 40-year-olds have and the answers are hilarious.

Like it or not, kids will tell you what they really think. Their naive honesty is refreshing, hilarious, and at times, a little bit rough on the self-esteem of the adults around them. Regardless, they don't shy away from telling it like it is, or at least how they see it.

That's why 7th grade teacher Shane Frakes loves to frequently poll his students for their opinions on, well, almost anything.

Going by @7thgradechronicles on TikTok, Frakes regularly goes viral for his hilarious content and observations about his Gen Alpha students. But more than just building a platform and side hustle for his own gain, Frakes makes great use of his social media savvy to keep his kids energized and engaged in the daily lessons.

In a recent video, he asked his students to weigh in on this question: "What do you think people in their 40s do for fun?!"

40, 40 year olds, gen x, millennials, gen alpa, gen z, generations, generational differences, teacher, student, tiktok, humor Im Old Tv Shows GIF by PBS SoCal Giphy

The responses are not for the faint of heart. Here's the list the kids came up with:

  • Play Wordle
  • Watch TV in black and white
  • Go gamble!
  • Spoiling all [their] grandchildren or nieces and nephews
  • Play Pickleball! A sport that doesn't move as much
  • Count coupons
  • Go on Facebook
  • Go and buy home decor
  • Grill food on Sundays
  • Saying No to everything I ask for
  • Bingo
  • Take their medicine
  • Knitting
  • Play golf
  • Sitting in a chair on the patio yelling, "Get off my lawn!"
I'm sorry, did we say 40s or 80s? Playing with our grandkids? Bingo?! KNITTING?!

Watch the whole video for a few fun easter eggs and unfortunate illustrations:

@7thgradechronicles

Back In My Day 😆🥲 #teachersoftiktok #teacher #teachertok #middleschool #middleschoolteacher

Commenters in their 40s wanted to be offended, but had to admit that the kids had them pegged.

"Home goods is accurate," one wrote.

"I needed this laugh right before bed and I see no wrong answers," a commenter said.

"40 and I scored fairly high on this," said another.

"The accuracy. I feel attacked," added another user.

"These are more accurate than I would've guessed," another summed up perfectly.

Millennials have been called the Peter Pan generation because of their apparent delays in "growing up."

They look younger, seem younger, and even feel younger than a lot of their predecessors. It's a well-documented phenomenon, in fact. Part of it has to do with cultural and societal factors that have delayed major life milestones. Millennials came of age in a time where earning high-pay in their careers, getting married, and buying a house were more difficult than they ever were for their parents. Many people in the "Peter Pan generation" are just beginning to really get on their feet in their 30s.

Millennials also hold a deep fear of aging, more so than Gen X does. That may drive them to cling to styles, cultural references, and other preferences from their younger days. But it's not weird, no. This blurring of the lines that define what a generation is has actually been pretty seamless.

"A millennial parent can post a TikTok dance with their kids, binge Stranger Things, or geek out over a Marvel premiere without feeling like they’re stepping out of their lane," says Stacy Jones, a pop culture expert and founder of Hollywood Branded. "Earlier generations were pigeonholed into what their generation was supposed to be. Millennials are defining that instead. That cross-generational cultural participation blurs what 'age' looks and feels like. And it doesn’t stop there - today’s 50-year-old doesn’t look or act like the 50-year-old of yesterday. Wellness, skincare, acceptance of Botox, fitness, and social media have redefined what 'middle age' even means, pushing the whole curve of youthfulness upward."

Jones definitely has a point about how people look; there must be something in the water. This is what a 40 year old looked like just a few decades ago. No offense to the great Kelsey Grammer, but by today's standard, the style and hair would have most people peg him to be in his (late) 50s.

40, 40 year olds, gen x, millennials, gen alpa, gen z, generations, generational differences, teacher, student, tiktok, humor Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane in 1996By US Treasury Dept. Public Domain

All the more reason that Mr. Frakes' students' list is absolutely hysterical. If there's anyone bound to be playfully offended by being prematurely aged, it's us millennials. But the fact of the matter is, whether we like it or not, we are getting older and settling down. Many of us truly do enjoy shopping for home decor and playing a round of low-impact pickleball.

What the kids don't understand is that we're still rocking the hottest music of 2001 and wearing our baseball cap backwards while we do it.

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American woman moves to Australia and discovers embarrassing double-meaning of her name

Devyn introduced herself to a group of people and they immediately bust out laughing.

via Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels and Ethan Brooke/Pexels
A woman is shocked to learn that her name means something totally different in Australia.

When people move abroad, it's normal to experience serious culture shock. Culture shock is a feeling of being disoriented or confused by a different way of life and set or norms than you're used to. You'd think moving from America to another English speaking country wouldn't be so jarring, but you might actually be surprised at how different things can really be even when the bulk of the language and customs overlap nicely.

Devyn Hales, 22, from California, recently moved to Sydney, Australia, on a one-year working visa and quickly found out that she had a lot to learn about her new home.

The first thing that made her feel out of place? Believe it or not, her name. It wasn't going to work Down Under. It all started when a group of men made fun of her on St. Patrick’s Day.

australia, names, americans, living abroad, cultural differences, culture, america, travel, traveling, english language Australia is a lot more than Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin. Giphy

After she introduced herself as Devyn, the men laughed at her. "They burst out laughing, and when I asked them why, they told me devon is processed lunch meat,” she told The Daily Mail. It's similar to baloney, so I introduce myself as Dev now,” she said in a viral TikTok video with over 1.7 million views.

For those who have never been to Australia, Devon is a processed meat product usually cut into slices and served on sandwiches. It is usually made up of pork, basic spices, and a binder. Devon is affordable because people buy it in bulk and it’s often fed to children. Australians also enjoy eating it fried, like spam. It is also known by other names such as fritz, circle meat, Berlina and polony, depending on where one lives on the continent. It's like in America, where people refer to cola as pop, soda, or Coke, depending on where they live in the country.

So, one can easily see why a young woman wouldn’t want to refer to herself as a processed meat product that can be likened to boloney or spam.

"Wow, love that for us," another woman named Devyn wrote in the comments. “Tell me the name thing isn't true,” a woman called Devon added.

For Devyn, it could have been worse, as her name was easily shortened to Dev. She could have been named Sheila, which is a slang term for women or girls that also carries slightly derogatory undertones.

@dhalesss

#fypシ #australia #americaninaustralia #sydney #aussie

Besides changing her name, Dev shared some other differences between living in Australia and her home country.

“So everyone wears slides. I feel like I'm the only one with 'thongs'—flip-flops—that have the little thing in the middle of your big toe. Everyone wears slides,” she said. "Everyone wears shorts that go down to your knees and that's a big thing here.”

Dev also noted that there are a lot of guys in Australia named Lachlan, Felix and Jack. (Noah, Oliver, Leo, and William have officially held the top spots for years.)

She was also thrown off by the sound of the plentiful magpies in Australia. According to Dev, they sound a lot like crying children with throat infections. “The birds threw me off,” she said before making an impression that many people in the comments thought was close to perfect.

"The birds is so spot on," a user named Jess wrote. "The birds, I will truly never get used to it," Marissa added.

@dhalesss

Replying to @j🌿 #greenscreenvideo

One issue that many Americans face when moving to Australia is that it is more expensive than the United States. However, many Americans who move to Australia love the work-life balance. Brooke Laven, a brand strategist in the fitness industry who moved there from the U.S., says that Aussies have the “perfect work-life balance” and that they are “hard-working” but “know where to draw the line.”

Despite the initial cultural shocks, Devyn is embracing her new life in Australia with a positive outlook. In a follow-up video, she mentions she hasn't even had many run-ins with Australia's infamous and dangerous creatures like giant spiders and man-eating sharks. There are other perks to living there, as well.

“The coffee is a lot better in Australia, too,” she added with a smile, inspiring others to see the bright side of cultural differences.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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Woman with unfortunate initials warns parents to think things through before naming their kids

"When you’re deciding what to name your kids, look at what their initials are going to be."

via Canva/Photos

Woman holding her nose looking in the refrigerator.

A lot of thought goes into choosing a baby’s name. Will other kids have the same name when they start kindergarten? Is the name too dull? Is the name too original? Will the name lead to bullying? Will the name look good on a job application? Could you run for president with this name?

Popular TikToker Emily Windham, 23, from Birmingham, Alabama, is adding another question that parents should ask themselves: What will their initials be? Windham has gone viral for her video in which she reveals how disheartening it is when she has to write her initials, especially when they appear multiple times on a document. To put it simply, they are pretty yucky.

“When you’re deciding what to name your kids, look at what their initials are going to be,” she says at the beginning of her video. “Every time I have to initial a document, I have to write 'EW.' All these little initial lines just say EW EW EW EW.” The situation is frustrating for Emily because her parents considered naming her Alexia, which would have been AW, which is sweet. “That’s so cute,” she said.


@emwindham

Easy em in tha house 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

The post inspired other people with unfortunate initials to comment; some of them are much harder to live with than EW.

“Yea… mine is XL,” Xitlali wrote.

“Mine is ‘BLT’ because it was my dad’s favorite sandwich. Mom didn’t notice until it was too late I don’t even like blts,” Bryony Tally Art wrote.

“Mine is ‘PP’ elementary and middle school was a blast,” Pais wrote.

“I knew a girl in school whose name was Amy, and her initials were also AMY, and I’ll never forget because that’s so baller,” Charlie wrote.

“My son's initials are BRB,” Ashleigh wrote.

“My initials are EGG,” El-Glory wrote.

“My initials spell EMO and I think that's awesome,” Elle wrote.

“Mine is OG… now I’m getting married and it’ll be OJ. Can’t decide if I like an original gangster or Orange Juice more,” Olivia wrote.

“Mine is ME, and when I sign out on duties at work, someone goes, ‘Can someone please stop signing ME and sign your initials?’ I’m like, those are my initials,” a TokToker named Madison wrote.


@thesam_show

sorry if i talk about this problem too much but it is HAPPENING AGAIN!!

Emily’s story is similar to that of Samanta Hart, a woman who went viral on TikTok in 2023 because her name doesn’t exactly work well with modern email conventions. Clearly, her parents hadn't thought that her name would cause any trouble in the late '90s when email was a new thing. So, she made a video warning parents to think of their children’s future email addresses before selecting a name.

“My name is Samantha Hart,” the 27-year-old said. “Most companies use the email designation of first initial, last name, meaning my email would be shart.” A shart is an accidental release when one assumes they only have gas, which is not exactly how one wants to be known in professional circles. Imagine sending an email to someone at another company and their name comes up as SHart. YOu might even think that someone is pranking you.

“At every single workplace, I have received an email from HR the week before I start letting me know that my name does not exactly fit the company email structure as they would intend and [asked] would I mind if they gave me a different structure for my email,” Hart said. That's kind of the HR people to help Samantha save a bit of face when starting a new job, so the thing she's most known for, before meeting anyone, is her questionable email address.

Sadly, Hart will probably have to deal with this whenever she gets a new job. Hopefully, she enjoys doing long stretches with her employers.

This article originally appeared last year.

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Chinese teacher translates bad Chinese tattoos, and people are cracking up

"I don't know, I don't speak Chinese" is actually a pretty good one.

@jessiez888/TikTok

For some reason, "coffin man" showed up twice.

Ever since getting Chinese characters as tattoos became a mainstream trend in America in the late 80s and early 90s (and really taking off in the 2000s) there have been stories of people thinking they got profound mantras like “serenity” and “courage” permanently etched into their skin only to realize they actually got gibberish…or worse.

And somehow, these tattoo snafus never fail to be amusing. Recently, a woman named Jessie, who teaches Chinese online, had viewers cracking up as she translated “Westerner’s Chinese tattoos” that could not have possibly meant what the tattoo owners thought.

In one video, which quickly racked up over three million views, Jessie pointed out tats that said some almost inspiring phrases like “star, laugh, love,” "captain my destiny,” and “cancer” (as in the disease, not the astrology sign), as well as straight up nonsense like “cockroach,” “low quality coal,” “pee,” “more failure,” and “coffin man”…which somehow appeared twice?

@jessiez888 Westerners’ Chinese tattoos be like #funny #chinese #tattoo ♬ original sound - Chinese with Jessie

However, folks were in agreement that the “I don’t know I don’t speak Chinese” and “check you" with the image of a bowl of soup tattoos were actually successes.

It was also pretty hilarious that, at least in the examples used in this video, women were either far luckier, or did their research, and actually came out with tattoos like “beauty strength love.”

In a follow-up video, which already has nearly 750,000 views, things seems to take an even more deranged turn, with tattoos that translated to “Oedipus Complex,” “groundhog’s true color revealed,” “dog fly to the sky dragon of,” and “kitchen paper towel,” among others.

@jessiez888 Westerners’ Chinese tattoos be like #funny #chinese #tattoo ♬ original sound - Chinese with Jessie

“The Oedipus complex one is diabolical," one viewer wrote. On the other hand, a different viewer commented, “ok but groundhog's true color revealed slaps.”

Does this make for a warning against cultural appropriation? Perhaps. But as some viewers noted, the hilarious aftermath of language barriers goes both ways. You can definitely go to places in China and Japan and see failed attempts at English phrases on t-shirts, snacks, storefronts, etc.

@k.fel English really do be a weird language tho #fyp #english #asian #foryou #fashion #tiktokfashion #language ♬ Coffee Music - Cafe Music BGM channel

Now, if you're someone who has one of those unfortunate tattoos, keeping it a secret might not be as easy as you think. According to Babbel, it is the most spoken language in the world, with approximately 1.3 billion people who speak it as their first language. So, there’s a good chance someone might have seen your “chicken soup” tattoos and is secretly snickering behind your back.

But hey, life is short and we all need something to “star, laugh, love” about. So, if a silly nonsense tattoos floats your boat, go for it. But if you do care, Jessi recommends confirming with a native speaker. Oh, and considering the font apparently goes a long way.

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