Words at Play : Words We Don't Hear Anymore
Definition:
: a young college-educated adult who is employed in a well-paying profession and who lives and works in or near a large city
About the Word:
"Here Come the Yuppies!" proclaimed a 1984 Time magazine article that chronicled the tastes and mores of a new breed of "upwardly mobile folk with designer water, running shoes... and $450,000 condos." The word most likely comes from a playful acronym: young urban professional + -ie.
The age of the yuppie was more than thirty years ago, and the original yuppies are not exactly young anymore. It raises the question: What do you call a yuppie who's now facing retirement?
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