If you’ve spent any time around kids lately (especially middle-school age) you might have heard a strange exchange that goes something like this:
“Six…”
(pause)
“Seven.”
That’s it. No punchline. Just a number, and another number. Then laughter.
I bet @bozz could tell us all stories.
No one seems to know exactly what it means, which of course is part of why kids keep saying it, the the annoyance of all adults around them. Like most memes that spread among kids, it thrives on confusion. The joke is that adults don’t get it.
I mean, I get it. When we were kids, we did our best to annoy the hell out of all adults too. That was all we had. Gen X was small and very outnumbered by the Boomers, so all we had was annoying the everlasting bejesus out of them — and believe me, we did.
But 6..7. Just what does it mean?
Some people trace it to TikTok, where kids used it as a kind of inside code, a “you had to be there” signal. Others think it started as playground nonsense that migrated online.
But there’s a more curious theory: linguist LanguageJones, in this video, suggests it might come from a Philadelphia police radio code—1067, meaning “homicide.” He connects this to some of the Philly slang used in Skrilla’s Doot Doot. The eerie twist would fit the meme’s deadpan tone — a counting rhyme turned dark joke, filtered through generations of meme remixing until all the meaning got bleached out, leaving just the rhythm of it behind.
Still, even if that’s true, it’s likely the connection was accidental. Most of the kids saying it probably have no clue about police codes or Philly slang. As LanguageJones notes, “6..7” is probably the only part of the rap song they even understand. They’re reacting to the sound of it, how six hangs there a moment too long, then seven lands like the final beat of a strange little drumroll. It’s nonsense, but satisfying nonsense.
Memes often work that way: detached fragments of meaning that feel right even when they don’t make sense. Maybe “6..7” is just today’s version of “Deez nuts” or “What’s the 411”.
Maybe tomorrow, kids will be saying “nine..twelve,” and we’ll be just as lost.
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David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |
