A Out-of-Touch Adult’s Guide to Kid Culture: What Does ‘6-7’ Mean (and Why It Won’t Stop)?
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This week, Out of Touch Guide takes a closer look at a generation-defining mystery: What the heck does “6-7” mean? This slang expression has been delighting kids and confusing adults since it first appeared about six months ago. Find out what it means, where it came from, and why it just won’t go away . We’ll also look at the Gun Run, define “crash out,” and look at grandma’s lap.
What does 6-7 mean?
The slang terms 6-7 or 67 mean nothing. But like “ skibiddi ” before it, 6-7 doesn’t have any special meaning. It’s an in-group designation that marks the speaker as someone who says “6-7.” Part of the idea is to use the phrase in conversation: If someone asks how tall you are, what grade you got on a test, or what time it is, you might answer “6-7.” Or you might ask a clueless person the question and give your own answer: “six-seveneeen.” (6-7 is often pronounced with the “seven” part stretched out.)
To you, an adult, this probably sounds annoying, and that’s the second defining characteristic of 6-7: it’s meant to refer to the person hearing it. It’s meant to be annoying. In a way, it’s a slang expression that’s also a miniature joke.
While “6-7” is literally said every time someone counts as Generation Alpha slang, its most likely origin comes from the song “Doot Doot” by Skrilla (which is a hit):
Something about the rap with the phrase “6-7” in the song resonated with the younger generation, and they have been repeating the phrase on TikTok and in schoolyards ever since. Another possible source of the “6-7” phrase is basketball player LaMelo Ball. The Charlotte Hornets point guard is 6’3″.
6-7 seemed like such a specific, forum-only expression that its widespread use took me by surprise, so I bring it up at what may be the end of its popularity. Most people (sort of) know what it means now, so the insider vibe it once had may have waned. Or maybe not. It’s an expression meant to be annoying, and it’s even more annoying when you know what it means. Judging by videos like these, young people are well aware of how infantile and annoying it is:
But they don’t stop. So I expect the “six-seven” craze to continue until the core users (children aged 6 to 12) grow up.
(For more detailed definitions of Gen Z and Alpha slang, check out my glossary here .)
What does “out of order” mean?
The word “crash out” used to mean “to fall asleep” or “to switch off,” but in 2025 it means a strong emotional outburst, usually accompanied by impulsive behavior. Crashing out often occurs due to overload or extreme frustration.
What is the Gun Run?
” Gun Run” is a growing meme format in which TikTok users mimic the distinctive and creepy running style featured in Zach Cregger’s horror film Gun Run . The run involves holding your arms up, like this:
Here are some stills from the film:
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According to Creggers, the pose doesn’t have a specific source, but it may have come from a subconscious memory of a famous photograph of napalm victims from the Vietnam War. “There’s something really scary about that pose,” the director told Entertainment Weekly . “If I had to guess, maybe that’s where the seed came from. I don’t know. But I knew that pose. I knew they were going to run that way.”
I think it looks like toddlers running and trying to keep their balance. Regardless of the source, it’s gone viral. TikTok users are gathering friends and miming running with guns .
having tried it on the treadmill,
or use running for jokes.
Although not everyone thinks it’s scary.
Millennials Are Being Mocked For Overusing LOL
Do you end every text message with “LOL”? You’re probably a millennial. As user X Sulla puts it:
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Millennials have responded to TikTok with predictable restraint,
Or pointed out that young people have their own quirks when it comes to sending text messages.
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It’s an interesting illustration of the pitfalls of basic communication and how languages change over time. The spelling “LOL” originally meant “laugh out loud,” but it was almost never used in a literal sense — very few people actually laughed out loud. If they did, they’d write “LMAO” — so it really meant something like “that was funny.” Younger people use the skull emoji for a similar purpose — as in, “I died laughing.” Then LOL was used at the end of messages to say things like, “What I just said wasn’t serious.” Then it became used, as Gen Z noted, almost as a punctuation mark, or as a constant reminder that “we’re having a casual conversation.” Now it’s in limbo. If the youth critique catches on, as it seems to be doing, it could make millennials feel uneasy, leading to the expression’s decline and becoming a piece of historical internet parlance, used only ironically or by the most ignorant.
Viral Video of the Week: Grandma With Healthy Knees
Since we’re talking about young people targeting older generations, this week’s viral video features an unexpected star: 59-year-old TikTok fitness influencer Chula Chumkong. Videos of her doing a “healthy knee challenge” have been going viral lately.
Here is the original video:
It took a while before people noticed and reposted it on X:
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For context, Chumkong’s video is similar to Megan Knees , a meme that went viral in 2022 based on a copycat clip of rapper Megan Thee Stallion doing a twerk while squatting. That apparently requires strong knees. The internet, as you might expect, immediately condemned Chumkong and decided she was hot. Which is both creepy and cute(?).
To recap the week: Gen Z is attacking millennials for writing LOL, Gen Alpha is screaming “six-seveneen” and only they find it funny, and the entire internet is thirsty for Gen X’s knees. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that popular culture is a never-ending cycle of mocking older people until you finally realize they might actually be cooler than you.