According to the Wall Street Journal,<\/a> which first reported on the trend, the phrase comes from a song by Philadelphia rapper Skrilla, who told the paper he never \u201cput an actual meaning on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Skrilla, whose real name is Jemille Edwards, told The Times in an email that the song \u201cDoot Doot (6 7)\u201d wasn\u2019t supposed to leave the recording studio, but he decided to leak it at the end of 2024, and teens took the phrase from there and ran with it.<\/p>\n The term \u201c6-7\u201d has turned \u201cinto something positive and fun that people everywhere are enjoying,\u201d he wrote. \u201c6 7!!!! Keep it goin\u2019, keep it positive, and remember where that energy come from.\u201d<\/p>\n \u20186-7\u2019 disturbs the classroom<\/p>\n The lack of meaning behind the phrase has seemingly given it the ability to show up everywhere and for kids to find any reason to shout it out and laugh.<\/p>\n It has been referenced in a recent episode of the four-time Emmy-winning series \u201cAbbott Elementary\u201d and was the entire plot of South Park\u2019s first episode of Season 28<\/a>. <\/p>\n A video posted on social media showed a group of teens going wild at In-N-Out when order 67<\/a> was finally called.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t realize how many times you say 67 or 6-7 in your daily life until you have a bunch of middle schoolers to remind you,\u201d Trujillo said. <\/p>\n Trujillo, who teaches at Giano Intermediate School in West Covina, likened the experience to the word-of-the-day segment on \u201cPee-wee\u2019s Playhouse\u201d from the 1980s that would cause everyone on the show to erupt with joy when the word was said.<\/p>\n Desarie Alvarez, 13, eighth-grade associate student body president at Giano Intermediate, told The Times the phrase has been creating a playful buzz around the campus and playground for the last couple of months.<\/p>\n The phrase \u201c6-7\u201d is random, she said, but her classmates find it funny nonetheless.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really see how it\u2019s funny, but I got used to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Teachers in some states are disciplining their students<\/a> or banning the phrase altogether when the laughter or constant jeers disrupt the class. <\/p>\n Carlos Ochoa, principal of Giano Intermediate, acknowledged that some of his teachers get annoyed when the trend disrupts their classroom. But for the most part, he said, his teachers go with it and either give their students a chance to yell \u201c6-7!\u201d to get it out of their system, or say it along with them in the hopes of making the phrase uncool. <\/p>\n \u201cI think the culture of our school is we roll with the punches because you can\u2019t fight this,\u201d Ochoa said. <\/p>\n In Ochoa\u2019s 13th year of being the principal, he said he has seen a lot of fads and at this point, he\u2019s just getting ready for the next one.<\/p>\n Skrilla performs at Summerfest 2025 at Henry Maier Festival Park on June 27 in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n (Joshua Applegate \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Why the \u20186-7\u2019 trend has lasted<\/p>\n A viral trend can ignite, peak and die in a matter of days or weeks.<\/p>\n The trick is getting it to catch on in the first place and there\u2019s a very slim chance of that, said Karen North, a professor of digital social media and psychology at USC. <\/p>\n The longevity of the \u201c6-7\u201d trend is somewhat unusual because Skrilla released the song last year but it didn\u2019t start to gain momentum until it was used on social media.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear when exactly \u201c6-7\u201d caught on for the first time. In March, basketball influencer Cam Wilder posted a video on YouTube from an Amateur Athletic Union game<\/a> where two teenagers in the crowd turn to the camera and say \u201c6-7.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n More recently, Charlotte Hornets<\/a> basketball player LaMelo Ball, who stands 6 feet 7 inches, began using the music, referencing the song and lip-dubbing \u201c6-7\u201d in TikTok videos<\/a>.<\/p>\n North said she believes \u201c6-7\u201d sprung back to life because teachers got involved.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause there\u2019s nothing that middle schoolers or elementary schoolers like more than to have teachers get upset and try to take action against something, especially if the something is impossible to ban,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n A child could argue they\u2019re not breaking the rule if they simply cheer when they encounter 67 in the world, North said, or end up having to say it as part of a lesson, like in a math class.<\/p>\n Why \u20186-7\u2019 seems like a generational code word<\/p>\n \u201cSix, seven\u201d is one of those things where kids have this secret code that\u2019s fun to participate in and make them feel like part of the \u201cin crowd,\u201d North said. <\/p>\n It\u2019s almost become a game because kids have realized that adults can\u2019t avoid sometimes saying or being exposed to the numbers 6 and 7 because they\u2019re a part of everyday life.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to tell you I have a PhD and I am the kid who, if a teacher said \u2018you can\u2019t say 6-7 in my classroom,\u2019 I would be laser focused looking for any 6-7,\u201d North said. \u201cI would think that was the greatest thing in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n North wants to remind parents and teachers that every generation has its secret code word. What was once the \u201cbee\u2019s knees\u201d would later become \u201cgroovy,\u201d which changed to \u201cfire.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s different about the spread of generational phrases now is how social media can quickly amplify them but also give them a relatively short shelf life.<\/p>\n Before \u201c6-7,\u201d there was \u201cskibidi,\u201d a phrase born out of a computer-animated video of a head coming out of a toilet. However, it\u2019s hardly used now.<\/p>\n Perhaps, Trujillo reasoned, these nonsensical and silly phrases are this generation\u2019s way of telling everyone to just have fun. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you think about all of the things that our kids go through in this age, with all the bullying and political stuff that\u2019s going on in the world, we could be worried about so many other pressing things,\u201d she said. \u201cBut for us to be worried about two little numbers, you know, maybe it\u2019s this generation telling us to lighten up a little.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n