Respondents to an annual Michigan college survey of overused and misused words and phrases say “6-7” is “cooked” and should come to a massive full-stop heading into the new year.
Those are among the top 10 words on the 50th annual “Banished Words List,” released yesterday by Lake Superior State University.
The tongue-in-cheek roundup of overused slang started in 1976 as a New Year’s Eve party idea, and is affectionately called the list of “Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.”
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About 1,400 submissions came from all 50 US states and a number of countries outside the US, including Uzbekistan, Brazil and Japan, Lake Superior State said.
Also in the top 10 are “demure,” “incentivize,” “perfect,” “gift/gifted,” “my bad” and “reach out.” “My bad” and “reach out” also made the list decades ago — in 1998 and 1994 respectively.
“The list definitely represents the fad and vernacular trends of the younger generation,” Lake Superior State University president David Travis said. “Social media allows a greater opportunity to misunderstand or misuse words. We’re using terms that are shared through texting, primarily, or through posting with no body language or tone context. It’s very easy to misunderstand these words.”
Few phrases last year befuddled parents, teachers and others over the age of, say 40, more than “6-7.” Dictionary.com even picked it as its 2025 word of the year, while other dictionaries chose words like “slop” and “ rage bait.”
What does “6-7” actually mean? It exploded over the summer, especially among Gen Z, and is considered by many to be nonsensical in meaning — an inside joke driven by social media.
“Don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” the dictionary’s editors wrote.
Each number can be spoken aloud as “six, seven.” They even can be combined as the number 67; at college basketball games, some fans explode when a team reaches that point total.
Alana Bobbitt, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is unapologetic about using “6-7.”
“I find joy in it,” Bobbitt said. “It’s a little bit silly, and even though I don’t understand what it means, it’s fun to use.”
Jalen Brezzell said a small group of his friends use “6-7” and that it comes up a couple of times each week, but he would not utter it.
“Never. I don’t really get the joke,” said Brezzell, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “I don’t see what’s funny about it.”
While some terms on the list “will stick around in perpetuity,” others will be fleeting, Travis said.
“I think ‘6-7,’ next year, will be gone,” he said.
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