Agreed, and adding -- One can see the notion of epochal/generational change in earlier UK contexts. For instance, the post-WWI era ushered in a time of great social change and the "Bright Young Things" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_young_things). And of course the "Swinging Sixties" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging_Sixties) after the costs of WWII were paid.
I don't think this is at all an American phenomenon.
Another reference point: kids who always grew up with a smartphone, vs. slightly-older kids who got their first one, say, in college. Totally different thing.
