If you’ve interacted with the youth literally at all this year, chances are you’re familiar with the term “6-7” (pronounced “six-seveeeeen“). Kids today are so obsessed with the essentially meaningless pair of numbers that 6-7 has now become Dictionary.com’s word of the year. Can someone tell Dictionary.com that 6-7 isn’t actually a word?
“It’s like a plague — a virus that has taken over these kids’ minds,” Gabe Dannenbring, a seventh-grade science teacher in South Dakota told CNN. “You can’t say any iteration of the numbers 6 or 7 without having at least 15 kids yell, ‘6-7!’” I’m feeling unc… Back in my day, it was all the DJ Khaled lingo (“anotha one! and “bless up”) that got everyone giggling in class.
After Dictionary.com’s announcement, those of us above the age of 16 have the same urgent question: WTF does 6-7 actually mean? Let’s break it down even though kids are definitely gonna stop using it now.
The Origin Of 6-7
Like many trends, 6-7 originally comes from a song. The numbers appear in the chorus of “Doot Doot (6 7),” a popular song by Philadelphia rapper Skrilla. “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway,” he raps. (It’s kind of like our “1738” from “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap.) Skrilla likely uses 6-7 to refer to the 10-67 police code, which can be used to report a death.
But there’s more to the story. Shortly after “Doot Doot” became a viral phenomenon, a high school basketball player and influencer, Taylen Kinney, popularized the phrase in a video where he rates a Starbucks drink out of 10. “Like a 6 … 6 … 6-7,” the Overtime Elite league point guard says in the December 2024 clip, using the “I’m weighing my options” motion with his hands. And thus, 6-7 was born.
Then, Taylen started using the song and the 6-7 gesture in his TikToks and really got the trend going— he has 1.1 million followers. Now, if you dare ask a child “how tall or you” or “what time is it” or literally anything to do with numbers, 6-7 is often the response you’ll get (followed by lots of giggling). So yeah, if you’re an exasperated middle school teacher, you have Skrilla and Taylen to thank for the 6-7 phenomenon.
@taylen_01 6 7 @Diamant Blazi @ao #fypシ #viral #67 ♬ original sound – user82144556570
There you have it! 6-7 basically means nothing… It’s just a silly little inside joke for the kids that’s now been ruined by Dictionary.com.