1967 was the year New Zealand adopted a decimal currency, the school milk scheme came to an end after 30 years, and the six o’clock swill was discontinued in pubs nationwide.
However, the number 67 has now taken on a new meaning. Viral online, 67 (pronounced six-seven) is a beloved meme and vocal stim for schoolchildren, often accompanied by hand movements that mimic calibrating weighing scales. Over 2 million TikTok videos have the #67 hashtag.
As for its meaning, even Dictionary.com, which named the Word of the Year, aren’t entirely certain. That’s part of its charm. For youth, the fun of performing, rather than the meaning, explains its popularity.
The nonsensical expression is connected to a rap song and also to a 6’7” tall basketball player. In the drill rap song ‘Doot Doot (6 7)’ by American rapper Skrilla, he raps “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway”.
Skrilla’s intention remains unclear. It might refer to 67th Street in Chicago or Philadelphia, or the police radio code 10-67 related to someone’s death.
Video edits of tall professional basketball players, particularly LaMelo Ball, who is 6’7”, saw the term grow further popular. A few weeks after the song’s unofficial release, TK Kinney, a high school basketball prospect, also went viral online after he ranked a Starbucks drink a six, seven out of ten.
67 is one of many brainrot cases. In internet culture, brainrot refers to content that is considered trivial, simple and low quality. It can also refer to the harmful impacts of consuming short-form entertainment, heavy digital use, or doom-scrolling.
67 in classrooms
Educators may wish to latch onto the trends that are popular with their students to engage them. Videos of teachers pranking their classes with the meme have gone viral themselves.
Teachers have used it in call-and-response exercises, where saying ‘six’ prompts students to respond with ‘seven,’ or incorporated it into math problems and quizzes, with every answer being 67.
Making lessons fun by being relatable can be a huge success. For some teachers, 67 is a nightmare number, though. Some educators have banned the phrase outright.
Overuse of ‘67’ can distract students, frustrate teachers, and leave some feeling excluded. Relying too heavily on memes can also risk trivialising academic content.
A study from Ateneo de Manila University found that high‑school students taught science using memes scored about 21% higher than those taught traditionally.
A paper in the International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education noted that despite the benefits of memes, “it is crucial to ensure that memes are used in a balanced and relevant manner, aligned with the learning objectives of the course.”
Niche today, mainstream tomorrow
It isn’t the first time that Gen Alpha slang has been labelled year-defining. In 2023, Oxford University Press named ‘rizz’ its word of the year.
Other modern slang terms were shortlisted alongside 67 in Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year competition, such as aura farming, clanker, Gen Z stare, and tradwife.
Aura farming refers to the act of curating one’s social media presence to project a desirable vibe or persona.
The term “clanker” is used in a negative context to refer to robots and AI technology, but it can also be applied to someone perceived as uncool, awkward, or out of touch with current trends.
The Gen Z stare is a distinctive facial expression or blank look often associated with Gen Z’s aesthetic or attitude.
Tradwives are traditional wives, a term used to describe women who embrace traditional domestic roles, often valuing homemaking and family over a career.
Past Dictionary.com words of the year include demure, hallucinate, woman, allyship, and pandemic.
