A Guide to Children’s Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: What Does “7 X 7 = 49” Mean?
This week’s selection may seem like a random collection of odds and ends, but there’s one common thread: atmosphere and absurdity trump logic and order. Slang terms like “7×7=49” and “lowkenuinely” make no logical sense, but they’re intuitively perfect. “Sea Lion” is pure absurdist anti-dance flicks that have taken over TikTok, and “The Pizza Movie ” takes the “drug movie” cliché to a new, surreal level. In other words, Generations Z and A aren’t trying to make sense of anything anymore.
What does the “7×7=49” meme really mean?
This math slang is gaining popularity on TikTok as a way to explain what women find attractive in men. It’s about how the equation is perceived. 7 × 7 = 49 is intuitive, unlike something like 51 ÷ 3 = 17. It’s an attractive equation, so it becomes a shorthand way of saying, “A man who is inherently attractive.”
Here’s the explanation:
Here’s how this phrase is used in meme videos:
With young people in such a difficult position right now, this generally ridiculous meme is being misinterpreted and over-explained as “women are attracted to numbers themselves , so men don’t stand a chance,” in videos like this one:
But the point is rather that some things are just perfect and require no explanation, as you can see by looking at this collection of other “attractive things that are not attractive for any explainable reason.”
At a deeper level, perceiving the number 7 x 7 = 49 as “attractive” is an example of ” ordinal linguistic personification “—a type of synesthesia , a sensory crossover in which dissimilar things are cognitively grouped together. There’s insufficient research to explain why so many people agree that certain numbers and/or equations are more “attractive” than others, and we don’t know whether these associations are universal or cultural, so more research is needed. Or we may simply be relying on intuition.
Is “Pizza Movie” the definitive marijuana film for Gen Z?
This week, Hulu released Pizza Movie , a coming-of-age story that could become the ultimate “teen drug movie” for Generation Z. It stars Gaten Matarazzo and Stranger Things ‘ Sean Giambrone as two roommates who take an experimental drug and then must head to the dorm hallway for pizza while experiencing bizarre hallucinations (and growing up).
At first glance, it’s a silly comedy, but a deeper analysis reveals something about the young people of 2026. You can judge a generation by the drug-addicted buddy comedies they enjoy. Baby boomers had Up in Smoke , where getting high was a political and cultural “statement” against the “system.” Smoking marijuana was a way to cope with suburban boredom and the abdication of adult responsibility in Fast Times at Ridgemount High and Dazed and Confused. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle featured typical millennial drug addicts who were also successful by society’s standards. In 2026, marijuana is so prevalent in real life that the stakes have to be raised with a surreal, experimental drug for which users are unprepared. It seems like a reaction to the fact that Generation Z is ill-equipped and doesn’t understand anything about a post-apocalyptic world where nothing makes sense, but you’re still expected to go down to the lobby to pick up your pizza.
What is a sea lion?
The sea lion dance is supposedly a dance move, but you’re unlikely to see it in a club. It’s just too silly. To perform it, you lie on your stomach, put your ankles behind your back, jump up and down, and make sounds similar to a sea lion bark. This dance originated with the popular meme rapper Juno Miles and his song “Sea Lion Rap.”
In the video, Miles doesn’t actually impersonate a sea lion; he simply encourages others to do the same. TikTok users picked up on the challenge, and videos of sea lion imitations began appearing, such as these:
This has nothing to do with the old internet slang term “sea lioning,” which is used to disrupt online arguments by bombarding people with so many “polite” and persistent questions that it becomes a form of bullying. Kids prefer to act silly. There’s a touch of rebellion in this absurd, yet absurd, manner. Unlike the flawless, attractive dancers who also quickly go viral, “sea lioners” lack skill and coordination, and it’s unflattering. It’s just fun.
What does “lowkenuinely” mean?
This combination of “low key” and “genuinely” expresses sincerity, but in a way that says, “Let’s not make a big deal out of this.” As @etomologynerd points out in a TikTok video , “low key” sounds a bit counterintuitive, but it nonetheless captures the essence perfectly. “Genuinely” is a factual statement, “low key” is a value judgment, and a fact is neither “low key” nor “high key.” But “genuinely” is used here in the same way “literally” was in the past. It no longer implies a fact, but merely adds emphasis. Therefore, it is the perfect expression of faith in a post-reality world.
Viral video of the week: Animatronic Olaf falls and dies.
This week, a viral video surfaced at Disneyland Paris, where a robotic version of the popular Frozen character, Olaf, malfunctions and collapses before the eyes of amused adults and terrified children. Falling robots are always funny. Watch:
The pause as he staggers, the slowness of his fall, and the carrot nose flying into the air create a perfect comic moment. It’s even better in the full version, where the moment of disaster unfolds gradually and smoothly.