Only a select few numbers can elicit giggles the moment they’re mentioned, and the latest one has turned from a niche online joke to the biggest trend of 2024.
“6-7” pops up in classrooms, in the cafeteria, during class change, or basically anywhere kids can insert it into a sentence.
Sophomore Noah Barrett says the trend didn’t exactly emerge from nowhere; it was boosted by popular content creators and then carried on from there.
“Players made it popular,” he said. “First, it was just teenagers doing it, and now it’s little kids, too. I guess it made it to [Youtube Shorts].”
Teenagers use it all the time, whether it’s a way to engage in conversation, talk to other peers, or to have fun.
“It’s just a way to express myself,” Barrett said. “I think it’s a new era of humor… it lightens the mood.”
To students, 6-7 is harmless chaos, but teachers may have a different outlook.
Science teacher Mrs. Keia Scott Newsome said that she and 6-7 have a love-hate relationship.
“From a teacher’s perspective, it’s annoying,” she said. “It’s funny the first 10 times, but every time you ask students to turn to page 67 or something like that, someone says it. It gets old.”
And she said can’t even escape it at home. “I have a daughter in middle school, so she keeps me updated on modern slang,” she said. “Social media sucks you in.”
Compared to trends from different generations, “6-7” is pretty similar.
“It’s not that different,” Mrs. Newsome said. “Your ‘6-7’ is no different than us saying ‘Whassup?’ Every generation has its thing.”
Librarian Mrs. Amber Faris sees it as more silly than anything serious.
“I think it has become something ridiculously goofy,” she said. “I don’t think this one is harming anybody. It’s just kids being silly.”
She admits it can get annoying, but it also has its funny moments.
“Yeah, it gets old,” she said. “But I’ve enjoyed seeing how adults spin it. For Halloween, some of my colleagues at Tates Creek dressed up as 6-7, and it was hilarious.”
Like Mrs. Newsome, Mrs. Faris thinks the speed of the trend comes down to phones.
“Social media makes it spread so easily,” she said. “The sounds catch on, people imitate it, and suddenly it’s everywhere.”
As for whether teens use slang for creativity or belonging, Mrs. Faris didn’t hesitate.
“Most people are doing it because everyone else is doing it,” she said. “I don’t really feel like ‘6-7’ is meaningful. It’s just dumb.”
Still, she thinks students may look back on it differently one day.
“Right now it’s just something to do because it’s ‘in,’” she said. “But maybe later they’ll remember it as something that brought people together in a silly way.”
The “6-7” trend will eventually fade, only to be replaced by whatever number, phrase, or sound TikTok decides is funny next.
For now, though? One thing is for sure: Dunbar isn’t done saying it yet.
6-7.
