Generation Alpha’s perhaps meaningless slang term “6-7” has been declared word of the year for 2025 by Dictionary.com. Photo by Adam Schrader
Oct. 29 (UPI) — Generation Alpha’s perhaps meaningless slang term “6-7” has been declared word of the year for 2025 by Dictionary.com, beating out words including “aura farming,” “broligarchy,” “tradwife” and the dynamite emoji.
“Each year, Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year and short-listed nominees capture pivotal moments in language and culture,” Dictionary.com said in a news release Wednesday.
“These words serve as a linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year.”
The reference site said that, in determining the word of year, its lexicographers analyzed data including news headlines, social media trends and search engine results. Still, even Dictionary.com said it isn’t sure what it means.
“And now for the moment adults around the world have been waiting for: What does 67 mean? Well…it’s complicated,” the lexicographers said.
The term 6-7 is believed to have originated from rapper Skrilla’s song “Doot Doot (6-7),” which was released last December and was quickly used as a sound by TikTok creators making compilation videos of LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets. It quickly spread.
“Within weeks, teachers were trading tips online about how to get their students to stop saying 6-7 all day long,” Dictionary.com said.
Some say that it’s meant as an ambivalent response, like “maybe-this, maybe that.” But more often than not, Generation Alpha seems to just use it as a response to any question.
“Perhaps the most defining feature of 67 is that it’s impossible to define. It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. In other words, it has all the hallmarks of brainrot,” Dictionary.com said.
“It’s the logical endpoint of being perpetually online, scrolling endlessly, consuming content fed to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms.”