# Alternate term for yuppie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975 "2013-08-11T22:38:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/1 "2013-08-11T22:38:09Z")
I’m pretty sure I read here that the term “yuppie” for young urban professional had some competition in the 1980s. IIRC someone here posted a magazine cover with something like “The Rise of the YURPLEs” or something like that. Anyone have a clue what I’m on about? ---
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/2 "2013-08-11T23:31:00Z")
I was a yuppie of a certain degree back in the day. If you’re trying to define the current crop of 20-somethings in the workforce, I’d vote for “hipster douchebags”. Feel free to come up with whatever acronym you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/3 "2013-08-11T23:39:43Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > I was a yuppie of a certain degree back in the day. Heh, that’s exactly what a hipster douchebag would say! (Disclaimer to avoid unnecessary persecution: this does not intend to portray BB as a hipster, a douchebag, or any combination thereof. It’s not intended to relate to him or her or his or her assignees in any manner. It’s limited to a reflection on a generic stereotype of hipster expressionism as held in common conciousness, namely that hipsters are prone to claiming long-term prior interest and subsequent disaffection with a trending phenomenon. Do not taunt happy fun ball.) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/4 "2013-08-11T23:40:09Z")
Twenty-something nitwits. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/5 "2013-08-11T23:40:39Z")
[Wikipedia is your friend.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuppie) Are you referring to related terms like Buppie (Black urban professional) or DINK (Duel Income No Kids)? I don’t think there is a modern equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/6 "2013-08-11T23:45:13Z")
You might be thinking of “YUMPIE” = “Young Upwardly Mobile Professional” ---
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/7 "2013-08-12T00:01:48Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Heh, that’s exactly what a hipster douchebag would say! > > (Disclaimer to avoid unnecessary persecution: this does not intend to portray BB as a hipster, a douchebag, or any combination thereof. It’s not intended to relate to him or her or his or her assignees in any manner. It’s limited to a reflection on a generic stereotype of hipster expressionism as held in common conciousness, namely that hipsters are prone to claiming long-term prior interest and subsequent disaffection with a trending phenomenon. Do not taunt happy fun ball.) Can I LOL here? Cuz I wanna LOL. Awesome post, i didn’t see that coming. Thanks for the laugh! …and the happy fun ball shall not be taunted. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/8 "2013-08-12T00:15:51Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > You might be thinking of “YUMPIE” = “Young Upwardly Mobile Professional” Was there a prominent magazine cover with that term, like Time or Newsweek or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/9 "2013-08-12T00:17:16Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > I was a yuppie of a certain degree back in the day. > > If you’re trying to define the current crop of 20-somethings in the workforce, I’d vote for “hipster douchebags”. > > Feel free to come up with whatever acronym you’d like. No, I’m looking for the alternate term that existed at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/10 "2013-08-12T05:52:55Z")
Was it the Bobos? (bourgeois bohemians) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/11 "2013-08-13T04:34:56Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Was there a prominent magazine cover with that term, like Time or Newsweek or whatever? [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921621,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921621,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/12 "2013-08-13T13:11:31Z")
There were a number of vaguely similar terms to “yuppie” proposed back in the 1980’s. Most of them were quickly forgotten. I don’t think any of them were really quite equivalent in meaning to “yuppie.” There were terms like “buppie” (for black yuppies) that referred only to some subcategory of yuppie. There were terms like “DINK” (for “Double Income, No Kids”) that was again just a subcategory of yuppies, since it meant that the yuppie was married (or at least living together) and had no kids. It couldn’t have been “bobo” (bourgeois Bohemian), since that term wasn’t invented until long after the 1980’s. I suppose that “yumpie” was reasonably close to “yuppie” in meaning, but it never really caught on. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/13 "2013-08-13T13:34:41Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Was it the Bobos? (bourgeois bohemians) This. Google and/or read the defining book (_Bobos in Paradise_). Or you could waste your time with Potterheath’s _Nation of Rebels_ aka _The Rebel Sell_. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-term-for-yuppie/665975/14 "2013-08-13T20:47:59Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921621,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921621,00.html) This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.