"A linguistic panic has swept America in recent months, corrupting our youth, annoying our teachers and leaving countless adults hopelessly confused. The question that has sparked the uproar: what, exactly, does it mean when an otherwise upstanding young person blurts out the phrase six-seven? As you probably know by now if you read, listen to or watch major media outlets from across the political spectrum, the answer is: it doesn't really mean anything."
"The phrase appears to have its roots in a song by the Philadelphia rapper Skrilla, perhaps referring to 67th Street; from there, it was used in videos featuring the 6ft-7in NBA player LaMelo Ball, and Taylen Kinney, a 17-year-old basketball star, helped it go viral when he used the phrase to rank a drink from Starbucks. It's often accompanied by upturned palms rising and falling. But the specifics don't hugely matter."
Young people frequently adopt short, often meaningless phrases such as "six-seven" and "skibidi," as well as shifting terms like "sigma," as social signals. These terms spread through songs, viral videos, and public figures, often accompanied by gestures. Meanings can be absent or fluctuate, yet use serves sociolinguistic functions: establishing group identity, differentiating from older generations, and signaling belonging. Sociolinguists view these patterns as normal psychosocial development and a recurring feature of adolescent language change, even when adults perceive the trends as confusing or degenerative.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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