by Kevin Burton
My granddaughter says it. She’s the only one in my circles who does. Thank God.
The copy-cat utterances of children have heretofore not been chronicled on Page 7 (Page 7!, Page 7!, Page 7!!). But this “6-7” thing is so ubiquitous that even Merriam-Webster dictionary is forced to pay attention to it.
It is an interjection, “a nonsensical expression connected to a song and a basketball player,” according to Merriam-Webster.
“The phrase “6-7″ doesn’t seem to have one specific meaning, but is commonly associated with the song “Doot Doot (6-7)” by the rapper Skrilla, which features the recurring lyric, “6-7,” as well as NBA star LaMelo Ball due to his height, which is 6’7”,” writes Angel Sanders in a very informative article in People Magazine.
You can’t escape “6-7” these days, but at least one burger chain is trying to, according to Sanders.
“In-N-Out Burger has officially retired the number “67” from its ticket order system, amid the viral 6-7 trend.” Sanders writes.
“PEOPLE confirms that the West Coast burger chain has removed “67” from orders, much to the detriment of the throngs of adolescents who’ve been lining up to eagerly await the number being called,” Sanders writes. “An employee at a Los Angeles location confirmed to PEOPLE that the number was removed about a month ago, and added that In-N-Out has also banned the number “69” from its ticket system.”
“PEOPLE has reached out to the corporate office for In-N-Out for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.”
Page 7 confirms (OK assumes) that In-N-Out was too busy selling hamburgers to comment on such silliness.
(Sorry for all the mistakes in the following comments. People left them in, so I will too.)
“Chatter around the removal of “67” from In-N-Out’s system began on Reddit when a user noted, ‘while i was at work yesterday night, i noticed that everytime i would get to number 66, and then get to the next customer it would just go to number 68, an it would skip 67. now im curious on if or why they removed it.”
Another commenter explained:
“Viral 6-7 all the kids are yelling these days. My in n out also skips this after a while kids kept making a commotion when the number was called.”
My extensive research into 6-7 began (and ended) with a request to Alexa to “play the 6-7 song.”
I endured about 45 seconds of an unlistenable “song” which sounded like Dr. Seuss on a particularly bad acid trip.
Nevertheless this phrase is currently unstoppable. “This past year, “67”was immortalized as the choice for (Dictionary.com’s) word of the year, defined as “a viral, ambiguous slang term that has waffled its way through Gen Alpha social media and school hallways,” according to People.
“While the term is largely nonsensical, some argue it means ‘so-so,’ or ‘maybe this, maybe that,’ especially when paired with a hand gesture where both palms face up and move alternately up and down,” the official (Dictionary.com definition reads, adding, “Because of its murky and shifting usage, it’s an example of brainrot slang and is intended to be nonsensical and playfully absurd.”
There is a phrase, “at sixes and sevens” which means “in a state of disorder,” according to Merriam-Webster.
I first encountered that phrase in the lyrics of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from the musical Evita.”
“It won’t be easy, you’ll think it’s strange When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I’ve done
You won’t believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she’s dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you.”
I took from context and the radically different shapes of the digits 6 and 7 that “at sixes and sevens” had something to do with being awkward.
“At sixes and sevens” however is less than viral. Outside the song, I believe I heard it used once a by a BBC radio reporter.
“While explaining the meaning (of 6-7) at the time, Dictionary Media Group’s director of lexicology, Steve Johnson, told CBS News, (It’s) something that you would have thought would have gone away, it just kept on growing larger and larger, snowballing into kind of like a cultural phenomenon.”
“In-N-Out is not the only eatery to take notice of the trend,” Sanders writes. “In November, both Wendy’s and Pizza Hut got on board with the now-common phrase, adding a “67-cent Frosty deal” and “67-cent wings” to their respective menus.
Six-Seven is used, “Mostly as an interjection (such as a response when someone encounters or hears the numbers 6 and 7). This makes it difficult to capture in print unless you’re reading articles or social media posts about the term itself, but there are exceptions to this,” writes Merriam-Webster.
To go viral means of course, to spread rapidly. But I think of 6-7 as viral in the more traditional medical, disease sense, and I am praying along with other right-minded citizens, for a cure.
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