67 is Word of the Year, and literally has no meaning - Netizens react, say have 'lost hope for mankind's future'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "67 is Word of the Year, and literally has no meaning - Netizens react, say have 'lost hope for mankind's future'")
67 is Dictionary.com word of the year and literally has no meaning. Photograph: (Unsplash)
Believe it or not, 67 is Word of the Year for 2025. Dictionary.com chose to go with a word that means literally nothing and is simply a nod to Gen Alpha's linguistic ways. What does 67 mean, and how did the hoopla start? Why is everyone angry with 67?
Dictionary.com named its Word of the Year for 2025 on Wednesday (Oct 29), and it has triggered a debate, creating a divide between generations. 67, said "six seven" and not "sixty-seven", is the word of the year. Gen Alpha has been randomly shouting the numbers in classrooms, and it has majorly taken over social media. While it doesn't really mean anything, it has been used a lot of times. Teachers have been reporting how randomly the students have been saying "67" out of nowhere, most of them oblivious to its origin and context. Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, told CBS News that the sheer pervasiveness of 67 played a role in choosing it as the word of the year. "Something that you would have thought would have gone away, it just kept on growing larger and larger, snowballing into kind of like a cultural phenomenon," Johnson said. He revealed that a middle school teacher, who was also a friend, called him one morning and categorically told him, "Do not make six seven word of the year." However, that call sent him in the opposite direction since he knew there was something here.
The words 67 are said along with a matching hand gesture, with "both palms face up and move alternately up and down," Dictionary.com explained. The word has no real meaning, some say it is mostly just used to describe something that is "so-so" or "maybe this, maybe that," but it remains largely nonsensical, the Dictionary.com definition says. Gen Alpha's use of 67 also apparently is a sign of belonging to a particular group, and if you know it, then you are in the "cool group". "It's something that's used to show, 'I'm part of this generation. This is who I am.' It's kind of like an in-group joke," he said.
Origin of 67 - What does 67 mean?
AS said above, 67 doesn't mean anything really; it is nothing. On social media, it is often used for someone who isn't good at something, and has often been used alongside sportspersons who aren't performing well. It comes from a song by rapper Skrilla, "Doot Doot (6 7)." It was played over video clips of NBA players, such as LaMelo Ball, who is 6 feet 7 inches. It soon turned into a meme and was recently also featured in a "South Park" episode. Meanwhile, it is being used so much by kids in classrooms that some teachers have banned its use. "You can't say the two numbers in a row without the class bursting out in a chorus of 67," an eighth-grade teacher shared on Reddit. She says it is no longer "funny" and "continually interrupts" conversations.
Netizens ask, why is 67 word of the year?
People on social media are annoyed at Dictionary.com choosing 67 as the word of the year. People are puzzled to see a word with no meaning being named. They think it simply shows what the future holds and just how bleak it would get with Gen Alpha. "I’ve lost hope for future generations and for the future of mankind," a user wrote on X.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
