# Social Spread of Slang Term “6-7” **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2025, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825 "2025-11-13T10:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/41 "2025-11-13T19:17:01Z")
My favorite comparison is to genxers hanging out their tongues and saying, WAZZAAAAP. When I hear adults getting all fussy and weird about it, I remind them of WAZZAAAP and ask them if they really think kids these days invented brain rot? Today I was teaching my third graders the game [All Ten](https://beastacademy.com/all-ten) (which, give it a try, it’s pretty fun and more challenging than you’d think). In the game, you use four given digits to create expressions equalling every value from one to ten. We’d done most of them, and a kid had gotten to the point where she’d combined (4+4-1), and had only a 1 left; so I asked her, “I see how you could get seven, or six, out of this. Which do you want to try? Six? Seven?” and I made the hand gesture. Oh, the looks the students gave me, equal parts admiration and horror. I love my job. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/42 "2025-11-13T19:32:20Z")
Were you going on and on like a broken record? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/43 "2025-11-13T19:35:08Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 'til she pulls out a lighter and starts waving it around. There’s an app for that now. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/44 "2025-11-13T19:35:39Z")
For over a month now. It’s annoyed my wife and I so I have been saying it to our kids and using the hand gesture as often as I can in any context remotely related to it. It’s working. I am sucking the fun out of it for my teenagers. HA! Parenting can be fun. Adults use of lame puns is almost as bad and I do the same thing to them. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/45 "2025-11-13T19:38:45Z")
If you are a teacher dealing with this just say, “In my time 6-7 meant a person just pooped themselves.” and from then on react accordingly whenever it comes up. Dealt with. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/46 "2025-11-13T19:59:09Z")
It’s neat to read your insights of the youths where you are, in Luxembourg, Germany et al. I suppose like much slang, it’s a code to avoid having adult listeners come down on them. It sounds like a shifty equivalent of ‘Whatever - I don’t care!’ ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/47 "2025-11-13T20:11:23Z")
> [@bump](#): > > So I do it back to them when I get the chance, which I’m sure is hastening the end of this fad, if only a tiny bit. You’re doing God’s work. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/48 "2025-11-13T20:16:16Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Apparently the 6-7 craze is causing headaches at In-N-Out Burger, where groups of teens are gathering simply to wait for the staff to call order 67, and making a big fuss when they do. The world wide web at their fingertips, and they can’t find anything better to do than that? 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/49 "2025-11-13T20:22:27Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > The world wide web at their fingertips, and they can’t find anything better to do than that? Gets 'em out of the house at least. BTW, imagine being a counselor at Scout Camp an entire summer with this going on… That was my son, he hates 6-7 with a passion. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/50 "2025-11-13T20:39:42Z")
No. I actually just used it in a regular sentence and they acted all shocked and amused and said that I can’t say that anymore. They wouldn’t explain further ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/51 "2025-11-13T20:51:37Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > They wouldn’t explain further That’s because they made it up. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/52 "2025-11-13T20:55:27Z")
Gen Alpha slang and memes move so fast they don’t need any help picking up speed. Like I said, 6–7 is already well on its way to ancient history, and “41” is the new numerical slang. Though if I’ve caught wind of it at 50, it’s probably already passé. What fascinates me is how rapid-fire all this cultural and linguistic ephemera has become, and how the internet leveled the playing field. Adults can look up slang in seconds, something our parents couldn’t do. That old sense of teen slang as a secret code isn’t quite the same anymore. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/53 "2025-11-13T21:00:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Gen Alpha slang and memes move so fast Nerding out here, but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some study about this - do these slang expressions and fad catch phrases/memes have different trajectories in the current era than they used to? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/54 "2025-11-13T21:05:45Z")
I just found this article which touches on both my observations, but I don’t see any hard data associated with it: > **[Lifespan of Slang Shortens With Each Click of a Mouse](https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2009/08/25/lifespan-of-slang-shortens-with-each-click-of-a-mouse/26204031007/)** > > Last week, if you wanted to use the latest slang to tell a friend he was cool, you could have called him "Obama," as in: "Dude, you're rocking the new Pre phone? You are so Obama." This week? Best no… ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/55 "2025-11-13T21:12:55Z")
Those kids look they’re saluting Hitler but feeling sad about it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/56 "2025-11-13T21:26:09Z")
Never heard of “6-7”. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > ’m old enough to remember the [**“No soap radio”**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_soap_radio) thing, and to have participated in it myself. How old is that? I’m in my 70s and I’ve never heard of it. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I said “6-7” with the corresponding hand motion. What hand motion? Never heard of “dabbing”, either. But it’s been years since I associated with anybody under 25. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/57 "2025-11-13T21:32:55Z")
You are not supposed to know what it means, that is the whole point. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/58 "2025-11-13T21:45:33Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I’m in my 70s and I’ve never heard of it. You’re old enough to have seen this show, but if you blinked too long, you probably missed it. Ran for five unfunny episodes. First place I ever heard “No soap, radio.” > **[No Soap, Radio (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Soap,_Radio_(TV_series))** > > No Soap, Radio is an American sitcom and sketch comedy that aired on ABC on Thursdays from April 15 until May 13, 1982. Five episodes were broadcast. The five episodes also appeared on the BBC, where the deletion of commercial breaks gave the show an even more rapid-fire look. > The title is taken from a 1950s prank where "no soap radio" is given as a non-sequitur punchline to a joke. > Overall, the plots of No Soap, Radio were very loosely wound and often nonsensical, as with one episode's subpl... > [@SCAdian](#): > > Never heard of “dabbing”, either. Funniest thing in Avengers:Endgame when Hulk dabs. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4fVc_9Y91kI/maxresdefault.jpg "Professor Hulk: "Dab" (3/4) - Scene HD - Avengers: Endgame") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVc_9Y91kI) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/59 "2025-11-14T01:39:26Z")
I’ve been wondering when this was going to come up on the board. it hadn’t started yet last school year, and I retired at the end of the year. I’ve been subbing this year and have heard it, but not that much. Today I saw a kindegartener make the two numbers out of Play-Doh. My daughter has heard it plenty in Chicago schools, but says she’s no-sold it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825/60 "2025-11-14T01:52:15Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Oh, the looks the students gave me, equal parts admiration and horror. I love my job. In my Algebra II class, after chapter 5 (Polynomials), I did chapter 8 (Rational Functions), because that seemed the most natural progression to me. One of my students asked about it before class. Later that period, some other students mentioned the skipped chapters, and I told them that so-and-so had already asked about 6, 7. I’ve read that the ultimate origin was a reference to some basketball player who’s 6’7" tall. But even if that was the origin, it’s moved on well past that. And contrary to folks saying how fast-moving slang is these days, I’m amazed that “6 7” has stuck around as long as it has: It’s had an awfully long life for something that doesn’t actually mean anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-spread-of-slang-term-6-7/1024825.md?page=4)