Respondents to an annual Michigan faculty survey of overused and misused phrases and phrases say ” 6-7 ” is “cooked” and will come to an enormous full-stop heading into the brand new yr.
These are among the many prime 10 phrases on the fiftieth annual “Banished Phrases Checklist,” launched Thursday by Lake Superior State College. The tongue-in-cheek roundup of overused slang began in 1976 as a New Yr’s Eve celebration concept, and is affectionately known as the record of “Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and Normal Uselessness.”
Round 1,400 submissions got here from all 50 states and a variety of nations outdoors the U.S., together with Uzbekistan, Brazil and Japan, in keeping with Lake Superior State.
Additionally within the prime 10 are “demure,” “incentivize,” “good,” “present/gifted,” “my dangerous” and “attain out.” “My dangerous” and “attain out” additionally made the record a long time in the past — in 1998 and 1994, respectively.
“The record undoubtedly represents the fad and vernacular traits of the youthful technology,” mentioned David Travis, Lake Superior State College president. “Social media permits a larger alternative to misconceive or misuse phrases. We’re utilizing phrases which might be shared by way of texting, primarily, or by way of posting with no physique language or tone context. It’s very simple to misconceive these phrases.”
Few phrases in 2025 befuddled dad and mom, lecturers and others over the age of, say 40, greater than “6-7.” Dictionary.com even picked it as their 2025 phrase of the yr, whereas different dictionaries selected phrases like “slop” and “ rage bait.”
However what does “6-7” really imply? It exploded over the summer season, particularly amongst Gen Z, and is taken into account by many to be nonsensical in which means — an inside joke pushed by social media.
“Don’t fear, as a result of we’re all nonetheless making an attempt to determine precisely what it means,” the dictionary’s editors wrote.
Every quantity may be spoken aloud as “six, seven.” They even may be mixed because the quantity 67; in school basketball video games, some followers explode when a staff reaches that time complete.
The position of “6-7” on the prime of the banished record places it in good firm. In 2019, the centuries-old Latin phrase “quid professional quo” was the highest requested phrase to ban from well-liked use. In 2017, ” faux information ” received probably the most votes.
Alana Bobbitt, a 19-year-old sophomore on the College of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is unapologetic about utilizing “6-7.”
“I discover pleasure in it,” Bobbitt mentioned. “It’s a bit of bit foolish, and regardless that I don’t perceive what it means, it’s enjoyable to make use of.”
Jalen Brezzell says a small group of his pals use “6-7” and that it comes up a few instances every week. However he received’t utter it.
“By no means. I don’t actually get the joke,” mentioned Brezzell, a 19-year-old sophomore on the College of Michigan-Dearborn. “I don’t see what’s humorous about it.”
However banning it, even in jest, could be a little bit of a stretch, he mentioned, including that he does use different phrases and phrases on the record.
“I’ve at all times used the phrase ‘cooked,’” Brezzell mentioned. “I simply suppose it received well-liked on the web over this previous yr. It’s saying, like, ‘give it up, it’s over.’”
A number of the phrases do have longevity, Travis mentioned.
“I don’t suppose they’ll ever go away, like ‘on the finish of the day,’” he mentioned. “I used ‘my dangerous’ at present. I really feel comfy utilizing it. I began utilizing it after I was younger. Lots of us older persons are nonetheless utilizing it.”
Travis mentioned that whereas some phrases on the record “will stick round in perpetuity,” others shall be fleeting.
“I believe ‘6-7,’ subsequent yr, shall be gone,” he mentioned.