Generation Snowflake been attributed to Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel "Fight Club", and its 1999 film adaptation. Both the novel and the film include the line "You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake." In January 2017, Palahniuk claimed credit for coining "snowflake", adding that the young adults of the 2010s exhibit "a kind of new Victorianism". An article published by Merriam-Webster stated that Palahniuk was not the first person to use "snowflake" metaphorically, saying, "It's the stuff of self-help books and inspirational posters and elementary school assurances. The imagery before negation is lovely; we are each unique snowflakes,
Chuck Palahniuk his father, Fred Palahniuk, had started dating a woman named Donna Fontaine, whom he had met through a personal ad under the title "Kismet". Her former boyfriend, Dale Shackelford, had previously been imprisoned for sexual abuse, and had vowed to kill Fontaine as soon as he was released from prison. Palahniuk believes that, using a personal ad, Fontaine was looking for "the biggest man she could find" to protect her from Shackelford, and Palahniuk's father qualified. After his release, Shackelford followed Fontaine and the senior Palahniuk to Fontaine's home in Kendrick, Idaho after they had gone out for a date.