# You're hopelessly out of touch if you've never heard of... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801 "2011-12-11T04:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/81 "2011-12-13T21:21:22Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > All the 12 year-old girls I follow on Tumblr are into a band called “One Direction” now. I guess they’re the next big thing. I keep on getting confused because the glee club in Glee is named ‘New Directions’. I always think they actually tried to make that into a legit band and release music under the name. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/82 "2011-12-14T03:48:03Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > TOn the other hand, I don’t know anything at all about computer games. I’ve never played one. I recognize the titles of a few of the big ones \_ World of Warcraft, Grand Theft Auto, etc. \_ but basically the gamer world and my world do not intersect at all. Same here. I know names from hearing people talk about them, but have no first-hand knowledge of what the games entail. There’s some meme going around about shooting someone in the knee with an arrow that is from a new game I can’t remember the name of…Skyrim or something? ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/83 "2011-12-14T10:49:07Z")
This [guy](http://chzmemebase.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/memes-happy-and-knows-it-doesnt-clap-hands.jpg) seems to be a type of chav. There’s a bunch of lulz about him on-line (where I get most of my info). It helps to be in a bigger city; my students come to me to answer this stuff. They’re too busy texting to pick up on anything outside their circle of friends. No tv, internet, etc. Just ‘whaddaya doin’. So I expand their horizons with vital info. gleaned from time-waster sites. Urban dictionary is your friend. Wiki is the wing man. Don’t worry too much about not knowing singers. If the singers are too popular, nobody admits to listening to and/or liking them. That’s been around since Hector was a pup and still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/84 "2011-12-15T02:18:17Z")
I just thought of one. You should know what a Tardis is. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/85 "2011-12-15T03:01:46Z")
I’m 34 and relatively unhip (plus not a big music listener), BUT I have a 12-year-old stepdaughter. So from **JoeyP’s** list Gwen Stefani–yep, know her from No Doubt and her solo stuff. P Diddy–know who he is, but can’t name any of his songs. Maroon 5 –I know they’re a group. Alt rock, maybe? Christina Aguilera–Genie in a Bottle? Katy Perry–yes, know this because of “I Kissed a Girl” and “Firework” Justin Timberlake–supposed to be hot, I think. Maybe formerly part of a group? Beyonce–very popular–I know the annoying “ring on it” song. Justin Bieber–bad haircut, sounds like a girl. Some of them might mention Nikki Minaj–multicolored hair. Stepkid’s best friend was her for Halloween last year. Snoop–umm. I saw a song on TV where he chanted “Snooooppp Dooooggg” a lot…it was like a strange religious ceremony. Jay Z–the guy with the cool book cover. Hey, I was admiring a colleague’s copy. Black Keys–never heard of them. Adele–yep, know Rolling in the Deep and…Pavements, maybe? Glee–watched season 1 on Netflix. Can’t get into season 2. Florence and the Machine–never heard of them. Looked them up on YouTube and scared away by the makeup. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/86 "2011-12-15T13:38:53Z")
I just had a wanna be trendy type rattle on for 20 minutes about something called “Chemical Romance” seemingly under the impression that I would know who or what it was. I am now pretty sure it has nothing to do with a drug-induced love affair. Rock group? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/87 "2011-12-15T17:56:34Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I just thought of one. You should know what a Tardis is. I’m so sorry dear, but thinking that makes you out of touch. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/88 "2011-12-15T18:35:15Z")
53 and knew all of those if you define “knew” as had heard of them and were vaguely aware of what genre they were in. If you require being able to name even one song, my list shrinks to almost nothing. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/89 "2011-12-16T04:43:51Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I’m so sorry dear, but thinking that makes you out of touch. 😉 lol - I meant by NOW you should know what one is. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/90 "2011-12-16T05:13:12Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Television talk shows (day and nighttime), Saturday Night Live, magazine covers in the grocery checkout line, when you sign into certain email pages, the commercial for Google Chrome, music stores, Christmas specials, the nightly news, his movie or ads/trailers for it. [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), the paternity suit, a glut of Bieber-related merchandise in the stores, singing for the PRESIDENT? He’s literally unavoidable, which in itself is memorable. I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but there are people with very rich and rewarding lives who don’t watch tv talk shows, don’t read magazines covers in the checkout, don’t pay attention to commercials, don’t go into music stores, don’t care who sings for the President, blah, blah, blah. He’s literally avoidable, which in itself is not very memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/91 "2011-12-16T06:07:15Z")
Well, when **Starving Artist** shows me up, I guess I have to hang up my boots. I don’t know half of the people you folks are talking about. I know Gwen Stefani but haven’t heard anything from or about her since “Hollaback Girl.” I know Christine Aguilera, but the last thing I remember from her was “Dirty.” I know of Beyonce, but have no idea what she does. Men find her sexy. Not my cup of java. I’ve heard the names Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dog, Jay Z, and P Diddy, but have no idea what they do. I actually thought P Diddy was a brand of something or the name of a business. I have absolutely no idea who Nikki Minaj, Justin Beiber, Marooon 5, Katy Perry, Black Keys, Adele, or Florence and the Machine are, although I presume they’re all musicians based on the comments in this thread. Glee is a TV show I’ve never watched. Why is most everything in this thread about music? Is that all young people are into these days? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/92 "2011-12-16T07:00:57Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Well, when **Starving Artist** shows me up, I guess I have to hang up my boots. You’[ll feel even more that way when I point out that P Diddy has actually dropped the “P” (“it was getting between me and my fans”) and has been going by Diddy only for some time now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/93 "2011-12-16T07:53:50Z")
I’ve been doing a little teaching lately at a career college. My students are all women, none older than 26, and most in the 18-21 age range. Among the things they have never heard of (I bring them up and have received blank stares) include: – The Grateful Dead – Alice Cooper (one student did recognize the lyrics to “School’s Out” when I recited them) – Frank Zappa – Led Zeppelin songs (they’ve heard of the band, but not its songs) – WKRP in Cincinnati – “I Don’t Like Mondays” by the Boomtown Rats (how I begin lectures on Mondays: “The silicone chip inside her head…”) – U2 (to them, Bono is a famous humanitarian, not a musician) Of course, they get their own back with bands and pop culture that I have never heard of, or know of only by repeated media exposure: Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Twilight. It’s an education on both counts! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/94 "2011-12-16T08:57:45Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but there are people with very rich and rewarding lives who don’t watch tv talk shows, don’t read magazines covers in the checkout, don’t pay attention to commercials, don’t go into music stores, don’t care who sings for the President, blah, blah, blah. > > He’s literally avoidable, which in itself is not very memorable. Oooh! Look at me! I don’t own a television! I drive a Prius! I shop at Trader Joes! What’s with those little carts at Whole Foods? I don’t read anything I don’t directly download to my iPad! I’m too busy writing checks to PBS (It’s the Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park AGAIN this pledge drive - YAY! AND FOR $40 THEY’RE GIVING AWAY A “THIS OLD HOUSE TOTEBAG!!!\*) to notice there is a Justin Bieber!” Yeah, I live in the San Francisco area, so I’m well versed in _this_ bullshit. Seriously. You are obviously on the internet. I’m on the internet and have ZERO interest in Lady Gaga, and yet here she is thrust in my face at every site I click on nearly. I don’t know shit about her or have ever heard one of her songs but I acknowledge she exists. There is enough Bieber on this board ALONE that you should be aware of him. You don’t know any teenage girls or boys? Nieces/nephews? Daughters/Sons? They all have an opinion. Random people you’ve come across online? (Which was how I heard of him.) The title of the thread isn’t “Who you choose to ignore” or “who am I too smug to acknowledge” it’s “Who you’re hopelessly out of touch if you haven’t heard of.” The OP is an effort in good faith to ask “what is popular now that I may or may not be aware of?” And we’re trying to help him/her out. By being 40 myself my suggestions are admittedly feeble. That having been said, anyone who hasn’t heard of Justin Bieber, if only in a completely malicious, parody, derogatory fashion, is hopelessly clueless. I’m not saying you’re not leading a rich rewarding life (of being apparently hopelessly isolated). I’m saying if you haven’t HEARD of Justin Bieber YOU ARE OUT OF TOUCH. \*\* \*Yeah, I know stuff. \*\*Hope this didn’t make your monocle fall into your Mint Julep. Or maybe get the vapors. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/95 "2011-12-16T08:58:47Z")
I’ll never forget the time I met a met a twenty year old woman who didn’t know who Cary Grant was. And that was twelve years ago. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/96 "2011-12-16T09:19:38Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’ll never forget the time I met a met a twenty year old woman who didn’t know who Cary Grant was. UGH. Her loss! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/97 "2011-12-16T10:09:11Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Oooh! Look at me! I don’t own a television! I drive a Prius! I shop at Trader Joes! What’s with those little carts at Whole Foods? I don’t read anything I don’t directly download to my iPad! I’m too busy writing checks to PBS (It’s the Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park AGAIN this pledge drive - YAY! AND FOR $40 THEY’RE GIVING AWAY A “THIS OLD HOUSE TOTEBAG!!!\*) to notice there is a Justin Bieber!” Yeah, I live in the San Francisco area, so I’m well versed in _this_ bullshit. > > Seriously. You are obviously on the internet. I’m on the internet and have ZERO interest in Lady Gaga, and yet here she is thrust in my face at every site I click on nearly. I don’t know shit about her or have ever heard one of her songs but I acknowledge she exists. There is enough Bieber on this board ALONE that you should be aware of him. You don’t know any teenage girls or boys? Nieces/nephews? Daughters/Sons? They all have an opinion. Random people you’ve come across online? (Which was how I heard of him.) The title of the thread isn’t “Who you choose to ignore” or “who am I too smug to acknowledge” it’s “Who you’re hopelessly out of touch if you haven’t heard of.” > > The OP is an effort in good faith to ask “what is popular now that I may or may not be aware of?” And we’re trying to help him/her out. By being 40 myself my suggestions are admittedly feeble. That having been said, anyone who hasn’t heard of Justin Bieber, if only in a completely malicious, parody, derogatory fashion, is hopelessly clueless. > > I’m not saying you’re not leading a rich rewarding life (of being apparently hopelessly isolated). I’m saying if you haven’t HEARD of Justin Bieber YOU ARE OUT OF TOUCH. \*\* > > \*Yeah, I know stuff. > > \*\*Hope this didn’t make your monocle fall into your Mint Julep. Or maybe get the vapors. You obviously care about this a whole lot more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/98 "2011-12-16T11:10:23Z")
I only know them from their ’cameos’ on South Park and Family Guy. Another astounding entry I must add is Kanye West, I actually met a young musician who hadn’t heard of him. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/99 "2011-12-16T11:45:10Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > I played arcade games as a teenager. I’m making a distinction between them and something you’d play on your home computer or an Xbox. That’s what I’ve never done and know practically nothing about, and I suspect that’s what **Opalcat** was talking about, too. What Xbox? Spectrum, dude! I’m 43 and stopped being allowed to play in my BFF’s brother’s Spectrum after doing better than him at Abu Simbel ☹ (and he’s 42) ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801/100 "2011-12-16T17:14:55Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Why is most everything in this thread about music? Is that all young people are into these days? Let’s see for non musical things - True Blood The Vampire Diaries The personalities of the Jersey Shore Twitter 16 and Pregnant The Bad Girls Club Real Housewives of \_\_\_\_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hopelessly-out-of-touch-if-youve-never-heard-of/605801.md?page=6)