Yuppie

Syndicated newspaper columnist ''.

The term is often used Pejoratively , with an emphasis on the connotations of "yuppies" as selfish and superficial. In the novel '' A Very British Coup '', the Prime Minister Harry Perkins comments on the greed of yuppies in a speech.

THE YUPPIE STEREOTYPE

The term "yuppies" has come to refer to more than just a demographic profile - it is also a Psychographic and geographic profile. It describes a set of behavioral and psychographic attributes that have come to constitute a commonly believed Stereotype .

According to the stereotype, yuppies are more Conservative than the hippies who preceded them (in reality, many of the early yuppies were actually hippies in the 1960s and early 1970s). Dispensing with the social causes of the hippies (who themselves shed traditional values), yuppies tend to be "work hard / play hard" types. A cinematic example is Budd Fox in the movie '' Wall Street ''.

Yuppies tend to value material goods (especially trendy new things) and are also supposed to have "bad taste" in that they buy expensive things merely for the sake of buying expensive things. An example would be the "yuppie" stereotype for those with a love for Microbrewed and imported beer. In particular this can apply to their Stocks , luxury Automobile s (e.g. BMW , Lexus , Mercedes-Benz ), Sport Utility Vehicle s, development houses, and technological gadgets, particularly Cell Phone s.
See Conspicuous Consumption .

The yuppies' fast-paced pursuit of material goods can have unintended consequences. Usually in a hurry, "yuppies" may seek convenience goods and services. Being "time poor," their family relations can become difficult to sustain. Maintaining their way of life is mentally exhausting. Sometimes, they will move every few years to where their job goes, straining their family. This fast-paced lifestyle has been termed a Rat Race . Many of these yuppies are said to be "credit posers" and undertake a large amount of debt to maintain their outward image. To an extent, some of them essentially live "paycheck-to-paycheck" -- the paychecks are simply larger.

Heavily influenced by a competitive corporate environment, "yuppies" often value those behaviors that they have found useful in gaining upward mobility and hence income and status. They often take their corporate values home to their spouses and children.

According to the stereotype, there is a certain air of informality about them, yet an entire code of unwritten etiquette can govern their activities from Golf and Tennis to luncheons at trendy cocktail bars.

One of the better-known and more notorious depictions of yuppies was found in Bret Easton Ellis ' controversial 1991 novel, '' American Psycho ,'' which satirically lambasted the values of yuppies with a hyper-materialistic, murderously self-absorbed protagonist.

Yuppies tend to be associated with city or Suburban dwellers. The term is commonly used by traditional country folk and Good Ol' Boy s in reference to people who live the stereotypical Urban or suburban lifestyle. Entire city districts have been associated with the yuppie phenomenon; in the 1980s and 1990s , the redeveloped Docklands of London became widely regarded as a (very upmarket) "yuppie slum"; San Francisco 's formerly working-class Noe Valley neighborhood is similarly afflicted with yuppie-ism, not to mention Houston 's Midtown and Galleria districts (Houston's Midtown was once dominated by Vietnamese-run businesses until lofts were built in the mid-1990s). Similar accusations have been levelled against expensively renovated areas - usually low-rent communities - in a number of other cities around the world.

Yuppies are sometimes stereotyped as wearing white shirts, blue ties, and black pants.

RELATED TERMS

A ''Yumpie'' is a "young upwardly-mobile person". While this term is far less common, many confuse the derivation for ''Yuppie'' with that of ''Yumpie'', and the two express broadly the same connotations anyway. Some sources (textbooks, even) state that ''yuppie'' actually stands for "young upwardly-mobile person".

''Yippie'' is sometimes used to refer to a person with Hippie values and attire but with yuppie consumer habits.

''Buppie'' or '''''Nuppie''''' is sometimes used to refer to an African-American yuppie. This usually denotes a lack of association with larger African-American culture in favor of corporate or materialistic values.

''Guppie'' is a Gay yuppie. As with Buppie, this usually denotes a lack of association with a subculture.

''Yuppify'' and '''''yuppification''''' are a slang terms used in place of the words ''gentrify'' and '' Gentrification '' but with even more negative connotations.

A ''yuppie slum'' or '''''yuppie ghetto''''' refers to any neighborhood that is largely populated by a young well-off crowd, but often has other connotations of gentrification and rising rental and dining costs in a previously low-rent neighborhood.

A ''yuppie food stamp'' is a crisp US$20 note issued by an ATM.

'' DINK s'' (also ''''' DINKY ''''' in the UK) are well-off couples who often have much in common with "yuppies". The label is an acronym for ''Dual Income, No Kids {Link without Title} ''.

''SITCOMs'' are former yuppies or DINKs. The label is an acronym for ''Single Income Two Children Oppressive Mortgage''.

''Yuppi Cide '' is the killing of Yuppies, and '''''vehicular yuppicide''''' is the act of wrecking a yuppie's BMW . A New York -based Hardcore / Punk band in the 1990s called themselves Yuppicide .

''Yuppie Flu'' is a term formerly applied to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome , before that condition's general acceptance as a genuine medical problem.

''Organic Yuppies'' is a term used in the UK for yuppies and Middle Class thirtysomethings obsessed with food and wine.

David Brooks characterized yuppies as Bourgeois Bohemian s, or '' Bobo s'', in his book '' Bobos In Paradise ''

A variation, ''yuffie'', is a young-urban-failure, or more generally a failed yuppie.

''Boughie'' (pronounced '''Bōō-jee'''—an abbreviation of the word ''' Bourgeois '''), is a derogatory term originated in African American Vernacular English , and used to describe an African-American of lower-class origins, who has elevated into "upper-crust", and has forgotten (or, has chosen to forget) about their true origins. ''Boughies'' tend to have fancy or refined tastes, style, and manner in the interest of appearing more cultured or sophisticated than their ordinary upbringing would suggest. The term is used prominently by many Black stand-up comedians, in urban films like '' Boyz N The Hood '' (1991), and in television sitcoms such as '' The Jeffersons ''.

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Yuppie