Go ahead and roll your eyes. Shrug your shoulders. Or maybe just juggle your hands in the air.
Dictionary.com’s word of the year isn’t even really a word. It’s the viral term “6-7” that kids and teenagers can’t stop repeating and laughing about and parents and teachers can’t make any sense of.
The word — if you can call it that — exploded in popularity over the summer. It’s more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning, driven by social media.
Dictionary.com says its annual selection is a linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events. But the site admitted it too is a bit confused by “6-7.”
“Don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” the site said in its announcement this week.
How did “6-7” become a thing?
It all seems to trace back to rapper Skrilla’s song from 2024 called “Doot Doot (6-7).”
That song started appearing in TikTok videos with basketball players, including the NBA’s LaMelo Ball who stands 6-foot-7.
Then a boy, now known as “The 6-7 Kid,” shouted the ubiquitous phrase while another kid next to him juggled his hands in a video that went viral this year.
That’s all it took.
So what does “6-7” mean?
The real answer is no one knows.
And sometimes it depends on who’s on the receiving end of “6-7.”
Even how to write “6-7” is up for debate — is it “6 7” or “six seven?”
According to Dictionary.com, the phrase could mean “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that” when combined with the juggling hands gesture.
Merriam-Webster calls it a “a nonsensical expression used especially by teens and tweens.”
Some simply use it to frustrate adults when being questioned.
“It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. In other words, it has all the hallmarks of brainrot,” Dictionary.com said. “Still, it remains meaningful to the people who use it because of the connection it fosters.”
How has the rest of the world responded?
Parents and teachers have created their own videos trying to explain the sensation.
Some offer tips on how to stop their kids from repeating it all day long. Others suggest embracing it — even making “6-7” Halloween costumes — so it will become uncool.
Teachers have banned it. Influencers and child psychologists have tried to make sense of it.
It’s even spilled over into the NFL as a way to celebrate big plays.
Why is it word of the year?
Dictionary.com says it looks for words that influence how we talk with each other and communicate online.
The site scoured search engines, headlines and social media trends in making its choice. Online searches for “6-7” took off dramatically over the summer, it said, and haven’t slowed, growing by six times since June.
“The Word of the Year isn’t just about popular usage; it reveals the stories we tell about ourselves and how we’ve changed over the year,” the site said.
