The year 2025 witnessed one of the most perplexing global phenomena to sweep through schoolyards and social media: the '6–7' craze. This slang term, uttered as 'six seven' while mimicking a weighing gesture with both hands, became a viral sensation that left a generation of adults utterly bewildered and frustrated.
Despite having no concrete meaning, the meme spawned countless videos online and became so pervasive in classrooms that teachers across the UK and beyond were forced to ban it. However, academics argue this infuriating trend is far from new, but rather the latest chapter in the timeless tradition of children cultivating a secret language.
A Tradition of Secret Codes
A trio of international scholars from Australia, the United States, and South Korea penned an article for The Conversation explaining that '6–7 is only the latest example of these long-standing practices.' The team, comprising Professor Rebekah Willett, lecturer Amanda Levido, and Professor Hyeon-Seon Jeong, reflected on their own childhoods across three continents.
'As media scholars who study children's culture, we didn't view the meme with bewilderment or exasperation,' they wrote. 'Instead, we thought back to all the secret languages we spoke.'
Old-School Equivalents That Baffled Parents
This secret linguistic play has historical roots. One of the most enduring examples is Pig Latin, which surged in popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. This code involves moving the first consonant of a word to the end and adding an '-ay' sound (e.g., 'dog' becomes 'og-day'), creating a private dialect that could confuse uninitiated listeners for decades.
Then there's the enigmatic Cool 'S'. A stylised symbol drawn with 14 straight lines, it graced the margins of school exercise books globally in the 1990s. To this day, its origins and meaning remain a mystery.
Another iconic gesture from the same era was forming an 'L' shape with the thumb and forefinger and placing it on the forehead to signify 'loser'. Popularised by Jim Carrey in 1994's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, it was a potent insult that once left many adults scratching their heads.
Children have also historically remixed the lyrics of hand-clapping games. The researchers cite a 1970s UK playground chant celebrating footballer George Best to the tune of 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' and a later variation of 'I went to a Chinese Restaurant' that included the line 'My name is, Elvis Presley, girls are sexy'.
Why '6–7' Took Over the World
The academics pinpoint a key reason for the meteoric rise of the '6–7' meme: its sheer simplicity. 'One reason 6–7 became so popular is the low barrier to entry,' they explained. The easy-to-copy phrase and hand movement allowed it to transcend cultural and linguistic borders, even enabling participation from deaf children.
'The strange words, nonsensical games and creative play of your childhood might seem ridiculous today,' the scholars concluded. 'But there's real value in these hidden worlds. With or without access to the internet, children will continue to transform language and games to suit their needs – which, yes, includes getting under the skin of adults.'
The phenomenon underscores a recurring cultural cycle where youth create coded forms of communication, asserting their own identity and space, often directly in front of baffled parents and teachers.
