I spied upon this Guardian article published on October 20 which tries to explain the latest expression 'Six-seven' that is widely used especially by teens and tweens.
And it has even travelled to Malaysia! I first heard about it when I was involved in a training program (September 27-28, 2025) which I had highlighted in my September 30 blog post "SAS Kelas 3 Maju". In fact, I was personally introduced to it by one of the students whom I had coached.
Name: Six-seven.
Age: Less than a year old.
Appearance: Everywhere.
What does six-seven signify? You know, just six-seven. Six-sevvuhnn!
Is it a code? No, it’s six-seven!
Is it a cool way to say someone is at sixes and sevens, i.e., in a state of disorder or confusion? It is definitely not that.
Then what does it mean? It’s just something the young people of today are saying. Or shouting.
You mean it’s fashionable to yell out two consecutive numbers? It’s more than fashionable – it’s a plague. Six-seven has become the bane of school teachers everywhere.
Why? Because it’s maddening. Imagine telling your students to turn to page 67, only for all of them to shout “six-seven!” at you.
No, I mean why are the children doing that? Even they don’t know why.
It must come from somewhere. Yes, but I should preface any explanation by saying: it’s a long story and it doesn’t matter.
I’ll be the judge of that. Fine. The phrase “six-seven”, in its modern sense, appears to originate with the Philadelphia, US rapper Skrilla’s 2024 track Doot Doot (6 7), in which it’s either a reference to police radio code, or 67th Street, or something else.
I see. But it really went viral when the song was repeatedly used to soundtrack video clips of the NBA basketball star LaMelo Ball, who is, as it happens, 6ft 7in.
OK, I think I get it. Trust me, you don’t. Somewhere along the line the phrase acquired an accompanying hand gesture: two upturned palms alternately rising and falling, like weighing scales.
In that case, perhaps it’s a reference to something being nothing special, i.e., a six or a seven on a scale from one to 10? Nice try, but no. The phrase has become such a phenomenon in the US that it was the basis for a South Park episode, in which it sparks a moral panic.
And it’s now reached the classrooms of the UK? Apparently it has. Thus ends the story of six-seven.
You were right. That was long, and it didn’t matter. Not in the least. It’s a bit of meme slang that refers only to itself, advertising nothing beyond the average 13-year-old’s capacity for being annoying and a corresponding willingness to flog a dead horse.
What can be done about it? Some teachers have banned it, but others have incorporated six-seven into their teaching.
I suppose it will be over soon enough. Adults are talking about it, so it already is.
Do say: “Open your textbooks to page 55, and then turn over 12 more pages”.
Don’t say: “Skibidi!”
And so, this so-called "cultural" phenomenon, which is, really, a form of nonsensical Internet slang for Gen Alpha, is often used in response to prompts involving the numbers six and seven. It does not have any specific meaning, and which leaves older generations confused!
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