Dictionary.com has announced its 2025 Word of the Year, and if you’re not up to speed on this year’s slang, you may be puzzled by the outcome.
The online dictionary announced on Oct. 29 that its Word of the Year is “6-7” (also “six-seven” and “67”), a slang phrase popularly used by Gen Alpha. While some interpret the phrase to mean “so-so” or “maybe this, maybe that,” it is also used as an exclamation, according to a Dictionary.com news release.
The popular “6-7” phrase and accompanying hand movement – moving the hands up and down, palms up, like weighing two objects – even made a recent appearance on “South Park.” In the Season 28 premiere of the cartoon, character Butters Scotch goes around the elementary school saying different “6-7” jokes to his friends.
“You want to know what time I woke up this morning?” Butters Stotch asks his friends. “Around 6-7.” In response, his friends say “6-7” back, both with glee and mirroring the popular hand movement.
“6-7,” in some capacity, has been milling around the internet for about 10 months now. Here’s a look at how the slang got started.
The origins of “6-7” tie back to the song “Doot Doot,” released by rapper Skrilla in December 2024. In the song, Skrilla sings, “The way that switch, I know he dyin’. 6-7. I just bipped right on the highway.” According to Know Your Meme, a database for memes and internet slang, some people say “6-7” in the song is in reference to 67th Street, perhaps in Philadelphia, where Skrilla is from. But the rapper had not confirmed the numbers’ meaning as of Oct. 28.
As “6-7” doesn’t appear to be dying down anytime soon, teachers have begun implementing the slang into the classroom, sharing the results on social media.
In September, kindergarten teacher Sara James posted a TikTok video of her counting to 10 with her students. When she and the students get to 6 and 7, James does the popular hand movement as the children yell out in excitement.
“Hey, whatever they like, I’m down for,” James wrote in the video’s caption. “As long as it keeps them engaged.”
Though “6-7” came out on top, here are some of the words that were in the run for Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year:
- Agentic: Digital technology, like artificial intelligence, capable of acting independently to accomplish a goal or task; acting like a human agent, according to Dictionary.com
- Aura farming: The act of constantly trying to look cool, confident and unbothered to build “aura moments,” per Know Your Meme
- Gen Z stare: A blank, expressionless stare said to be commonly used by Generation Z used in a place of greeting or small talk, per Know Your Meme
- Overtourism: A situation in which too many tourists travel to a popular destination, causing the place to suffer negative environmental, economic and sociocultural impacts, according to Dictionary.com
- Tariff: An official list or table showing the duties or customs imposed by a government on imports or exports, according to Dictionary.com
- Tradwife: A married woman who chooses to be a homemaker as a primary occupation and adheres to traditional femininity and female gender roles, often associated with conservatism, according to Dictionary.com
