Our generation is so distraught that we can't even form complete sentences.
We "can't even" what? Nothing? Everything? We "can't even" so much that we literally can't EVEN!!!
That last sentence made no sense. Include it in an English term paper and you'll receive a failing grade in return. However, most of my peers will understand exactly (or most of) what that statement meant. "I can't even" has become the phrase of 20-somethings (and some 30-somethings) across the nation. I've seen it transcend the counter cultures of the US. You will hear young people lamenting this from Texas to New York City. Mostly, it is young women who will use the phrase, but from time to time, you'll see the occasional male who "simply cannot". Such little words, but yet, it is understood within this age group. We understand it and we identify with it. In a way, it has defined us.
So lets' break it down: When someone says "I can't", "I can't even", or the most extreme, "I literally can't even", what are they really saying? First, lets' start with the most simple - "I can't." Whenever someone says that they cannot do something, they usually mean that they are incapable of either physically, mentally, or emotionally dealing with something. It may be a task, person, or situation. For example; if I say that "I can't drive," I am saying that I have declared myself incapable of operating a vehicle (whether this is actually true or not, because people can say they cannot do something when, in fact, they are fully capable). The phrase, "I can't" is usually said by individual in response to a situation, statement, or any sort of stimulus that they find ridiculous or subjectively "difficult" to deal with. So to speak, the state of being in "can't" is a subjective experience. If I am watching a show on television that is so absurd to me, I may exclaim "I can't", in response to the absurdity of what I am witnessing. Another example of the use of "I can't" may be in response to a certain stressor in one's environment. If I am having a hard time with a course assignment, complaining to a friend that "I can't" with this class, is another way of saying, "the class is hard for me to mentally deal with at the moment." Essentially, "I can't" is more of a feeling.
How are you feeling today?
I Kan't.
The phrase "I can't even," is similar to the former, however it kicks up the English language a notch by adding the adverb, "even." The addition of this phrase turns the complete sentence, "I can't" into an incomplete one: "I can't even." And older person may ask in response, "you can't even, what?" This phrase is also just another way of expressing one's frustration or disbelief in absurdity of a certain stimulus they find difficult to deal with. Another adverb that is added to the "can't" phrase is the word, "literally." Many experts (or "experts") of the English language will audibly groan every time they hear a Millennial use this word incorrectly. The word "literal" means to interpret something in its most basic sense without means of metaphors or allegories. For example; if I take Homer's Odyssey literally, I will actually believe in the real-life wrath of Poseidon. So, if I tell my sister that I will literally kill her if she eats my slice of cake, thinking in terms of the dictionary, she should never eat that cake because I said I would literally kill her. Here, the word "literally" is indicating that I am not using the mention of murder as a metaphor. However (and thankfully), many young people now use the word "literally" as both a means for emphasis and something that is a precursor to a metaphor. For instance, saying that I will "literally" kill my sister, means that I am serious about the state of my cake slice. I may not really kill her, but I may do something like yell at her or fight her (or just hold a short-term grudge). In other words, "Do not eat my cake Dora, or I will be really, really, really, really, mad at you." But, since we are Millennials I speak like this: "Don't touch my cake, Dora. I swear, I will literally murder you, if you touch it!" We don't intend literal murder; only figurative.
I literally could not resist this meme.
So now that we've defined the meaning of the phrase, "I can't even," now we must determine how this relates to our generation. It appears as though the current mental state of 20-somethings may be a bit disgruntled. We face the frustrations of struggling to enter the workforce with our freshly obtained college degrees. Some of us are over-qualified, working for jobs that we may have just settled for. Some of us can't even find jobs in a field which we worked 4 years in school for. Many more of us can't get hired for a simple job. Period! We are constantly having the most expensive gadgets advertised to us, each company proclaiming that we need their product, yet we can barely pay this month's cable bill. In addition to financial woes, we also struggle with basic companionship. Many say that the dating scene is crumbling; that it is uncertain, confusing, and stressful. Not to mention, the music industry is messing with us... One week we are exposed to the smart lyrics of Twenty One Pilots, then the next week we are expected to believe that people actually enjoy listening to "Anaconda." On top of all this, the VMAs will never be as good as they were in the 90s.
Perhaps the incomplete sentence, "I can't even" serves as an allegory for the state of our generation as a whole. This is what it is; an incomplete sentence. First, it is incomplete in the sense that our lives really have only just begun. We are only in our twenties. Granted we have good health, we have so many more years to look forward to. The phrase may also represent a general incompleteness in our lives. Many of us may be lazy; never completing anything. Many of us may have voids in our lives; absent parental figures or friends. Many of us may be missing elements within our love lives. Any of these situations reasonably illicit the emotion: "can't!"
We are a generation of weirdos stuck in between that time where it was necessary to go to an actual library to complete a research paper, and using Google; between the AOL dial tone and 4G cell phones; between bunny-ear antennas on the television set and flat-screen, high-definition televisions. Let's face it, we've seen quite a bit of development in our lifetimes and we aren't even halfway through our lifespans. I'm not saying we are the only generation to experience so much societal stimulation, but we definitely have found some type of way to convey the feeling. Through the frequent use of this phrase, "I can't even," it seems that we are constantly exasperated. Some of us may be over-exaggerating our frustrating experiences, but the feeling still remains. So much is going on that we can't. We can't even. We literally cannot.
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