THE ECHO

By Reporter // Grace Otey

6-7 is not cringe. I refuse to let adults or Debbie Downer kids tell me otherwise. Maybe they are just a pair of numbers, but it’s the universal reactions that bring the comedy. What do you mean I make an absurd hand motion, and half the room laughs and the other glares? It’s just so unserious; it’s the definition of adolescence and pretty much the defining trait of our generation. Gen Z takes very little completely serious; one second, we’re condemning the actions of politicians, and the next we’re shipping them with their adversary.

One may claim that 6-7 is Gen Alpha humor but so what!? There are plenty of terms that other generations coined that Gen Z has made their own. Low-key, GOAT, cooked? All terms coined by Gen X and Millennials before Gen Z adopted them and made them their own (some with new definitions for better or worse). 6-7 is just like that, Gen Alpha uses the term and pretty much founded it, but we can still use it, and we can still find it funny. (I still find it funny.) Some people complain it isn’t funny because adults try to use it, but that just means its message is more universal. Plus, there is nothing funnier (to me) than my 79-year-old grandmother saying with a wry smile that there are 6 or 7 eggs left in the fridge and that we should probably get more at the store. The humor is omnipotent — it even defies age and stereotypes.

Even celebrities, the class furthest from the common Gen Alpha iPad kid, have taken note of the trend. Elizabeth Olsen said in an interview that she was really into 6-7 because of the absurdity. She called out the tendency of society to be “cynical or pointing at something.” She finds it refreshing to have a phrase so abstract, considered funny. Olsen also said that she normally has no idea what is going on in modern culture, so the fact that 6-7 broke through is amazing. There is no set meaning. It could mean so-so, maybe, 6 or 7 things, places, people, or just a nonsensical interjection. 6-7 is the 2025 Dictionary.com word of the year BECAUSE of its ability to connect all types of people and represent the online culture of younger generations. 6-7 brings people together so why can’t I… I mean, WE find it funny?