He said "A lifetime of disingenuous, one-size-fits-all praise had kept most of my peers from pushing hard to achieve any actual triumphs, and therefore we had no internal sense of ability or potential.
[9][10] Such terminology refers to people who believe their status as a unique individuals means they are destined for great success, or deserve a special career, with abundant praise and admiration.
[11][12] According to Merriam-Webster, in the 2000s snowflake referred "mostly to millennials who were allegedly too convinced of their own status as special and unique people to be able (or bothered) to handle the normal trials and travails of regular adult life".
[9] In an article from the Los Angeles Times, Jessica Roy says the alt-right in the United States pejoratively describes most liberals and those protesting against Donald Trump as "snowflakes".
[19] A 2017 article from Think Progress commented: "The insult expanded to encompass not just the young, but liberals of all ages; it became the epithet of choice for right-wingers to fling at anyone who could be accused of being too easily offended, too in need of 'safe spaces, too fragile'".
[20] Actor George Takei extended the metaphor to emphasize the power of snowflakes, saying: "The thing about 'snowflakes' is this: They are beautiful and unique, but in large numbers become an unstoppable avalanche that will bury you.
[22] Shelly Haslam-Ormerod, senior lecturer in mental health and wellbeing at Edge Hill University, strongly criticised the use of the term, arguing in The Conversation that it stigmatises the mental health challenges faced by today's young people in an uncertain world and noting that even children aged under 10 have been unfairly labelled "snowflakes" in tabloid articles.
[23] In 2017, a U.S. marketing company created a "snowflake test" to be used in its hiring process to "weed out overly sensitive, liberal candidates who are too easily offended".
[25] "Broflake" (from "bro" and "snowflake") is a related derogatory term which the Oxford Dictionaries define as "a man who is readily upset or offended by progressive attitudes that conflict with his more conventional or conservative views".