Funny Questions to Ask Teens About the 90s
Twenty questions that ask teenagers to guess how the 1990s worked, for a car journey, a classroom filler or a family dinner: the dial-up noise, what a mixtape involved, what happened if someone picked up the house phone, and which of it they think was better than what we have now.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What do you think dial-up internet sounded like? Have a go at making the noise.
Why ask it
Asking for a performance rather than a definition means nobody can be wrong, which sets the right tone for the rest. Most attempts land somewhere near a fax machine, which is closer than they expect.
Guess how many photos you could take before you had to stop and buy more film.
Why ask it
The guesses are usually in the hundreds, and the real figure changes how they hear every other question here. It also explains why so few photographs exist of ordinary days.
What do you think went on a mixtape, and how long do you reckon one took to make?
Why ask it
The time cost is the part that surprises them, because it turns a playlist into an afternoon's work. Teenagers who make playlists for people immediately understand the point of it.
If a song you loved came on the radio, how would you get a copy of it?
Why ask it
This one has a genuinely clever answer available, and some teenagers work it out. Watch for the moment they realise you had to wait for the song rather than choosing it.
Why would anyone ever need to rewind something?
Why ask it
Rewinding requires a physical tape, and most guesses assume it is just a slower version of scrubbing back. Explaining that the tape had to travel is where it clicks.
What do you think a phone book was for?
Why ask it
The usual guess is that it held your own contacts rather than everybody in the area. The genuinely startling part for them is that it listed home addresses and was delivered free.
You're meeting a friend in town, you're both late, and neither of you has a phone. What happens?
Why ask it
This is the best question in the set because it is a problem to solve rather than a fact to recall. Answers usually invent something close to what people actually did, which is a good thing to tell them.
What do you think a screensaver was for?
Why ask it
Almost nobody guesses that it existed to protect the screen, because the name has outlived the reason. It is a neat example of a word surviving after its purpose disappeared.
How do you think anyone found out what time a film was showing?
Why ask it
The two real answers, a newspaper and a recorded phone line, both sound absurd when said out loud. Ask what they would have done if they missed it, which is where the frustration lands.
Guess what happened if someone picked up the house phone while you were online.
Why ask it
This gets an immediate reaction once explained, because the idea that one household activity cancelled another is genuinely alien. It also explains why families argued about the phone.
How long do you think it took to load a single photograph of a car?
Why ask it
Guesses tend to be in seconds. Giving the real range is more effective than any amount of explaining what slow means.
What do you think be kind, rewind meant, and who was it aimed at?
Why ask it
A rental slogan that assumed a shared obligation to the next stranger is a hard thing to explain now. If they guess it was a rule with a fine attached, they are close.
If you got lost driving somewhere, what were your options?
Why ask it
The petrol station, the paper map, and asking a stranger all sound like a bit rather than a plan. Ask what they would do now if their phone died, and the conversation gets more interesting.
What do you think people did during the adverts in the middle of a programme?
Why ask it
The answer that there was nothing else to look at is the one that surprises them most. It leads naturally into why everyone watched the same things at the same time.
Guess what a video rental late fee was actually charging you for.
Why ask it
Understanding that there was one copy and somebody else was waiting for it reframes the whole idea. Teenagers who have shared a family car get it immediately.
If it wasn't screen time, what do you think teenagers argued with their parents about?
Why ask it
This is where they stop guessing and start comparing, and the answers are often shrewd. Expect the phone bill, the television, and being home by a certain time.
How do you think anyone settled an argument about a fact?
Why ask it
The honest answer is that a lot of arguments simply were not settled, and that is worth admitting. It usually prompts a good question back about how anyone knew anything.
What do you think was the most annoying part of all of this?
Why ask it
Letting them nominate the worst of it stops the whole conversation sounding like nostalgia. Their choice is often waiting, which is exactly right.
Which of these 90s things do you actually think was better than what we have now?
Why ask it
Teenagers give this a serious answer, and it is frequently about photographs, boredom, or being unreachable. It is the point where the conversation stops being a quiz.
What's something from now that will sound as ridiculous as this does in thirty years?
Why ask it
This hands them the expert role after twenty questions of guessing, which is the fairest way to finish. The predictions are usually about screens, deliveries, or asking a machine for answers.
Asking without turning it into a quiz
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to ask these
Let them guess, then give the answer
The guess is the entertainment and the answer is the payoff. Withholding it to keep the joke going turns the whole thing into a test they are failing, which ends the conversation quickly.
Bring one physical thing
A cassette, a roll of film, a paper map, a photo from a disposable camera. Handling an object gets more out of them than any description, and it gives the shy ones something to do.
Answer the ones they turn back on you
They will ask what you actually did, and that is the good part. Have one specific story ready rather than a general account of how things were.
Expect admiration, not just mockery
Plenty of teenagers think parts of the 90s sound genuinely better. If that comes up, take it seriously instead of correcting them, because it is the most interesting turn this conversation takes.
What makes this go flat
Asking things a teenager already knows
Vinyl, film cameras, and cassettes have all come back around. Questions that assume total ignorance get a bored correction rather than a laugh.
Turning it into a lecture about attention spans
The moment this becomes an argument about phones, it stops being funny and nobody learns anything. Keep it on how things worked, not on what has gone wrong since.
Getting the facts wrong
Video games, mobile phones, and the internet all existed in the 90s. If a question implies otherwise, the whole set loses credibility with anyone who knows better.
Doing all twenty
Six or seven with proper explanations lands better than a full round of guesses. Stop when they start asking you questions instead.