“That makes no sense!” I thought, as I overheard a couple of teenagers talking. The words and terms they were using did not compute in this adult brain of mine. Later, as I pondered that snippet of conversation I chanced to hear, I remembered my college years. My group had done just that — we concocted words, spoke disconnected sentences, and created a malapropism just for our group. Specific groups of people, especially teenagers, enjoy having their own “in-group” language.
In 1965 “The In Crowd” hit the charts wildly. A refrain from the song is …we got our own way of walkin’ we got our own way of talkin’ …it’s what the In Crowd does. If you have run across the confusing 6-7 term, you have stumbled upon an age-old coding practice. years
Just as the senseless terms my friends tossed about ago, and as Doby Gray did in The In Crowd, that coding practice remains today.
Madison Burgess, a journalist at Tyla who writes on culture, gives insights to 6-7:
6-7’s significance is what Shakespeare’s Macbeth said in the play by the same name; …full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Certain writers consider “6-7” an inside joke that has no technical definition or signals being part of in-group language or group-speak. Other linguistics experts compare “6-7” to previous slang expressions, noting it serves more of a social function than a literal one. And lastly, there is a trend of non-traditional “words,” like phrases or slang, chosen to capture a cultural moment.
That Dictonary.com selected 6-7 as the Word of the Year may highlight a trend of non-traditional words, phrases, or slang, designated to capture a cultural moment. It could also be deemed as an insider’s joke. Strange, unconventional verbosity often serves as an attention getter. I’ll bet you just looked up 6-7, just in case it could add the hopeful flavor you needed for your esoteric expressions.
And then, there is the sinister, divisive “dog-whistle,” explained by Meriam-Webster when used in politics:an expression or statement that has a secondary meaning intended to be understood only by a particular group of people. To my mind, use of such subversive terms is not only dishonest, but also divisive. In our current cultural climate, there is a clear and an extraordinary need to be straight forward and home in on interpersonal discussion. Jesus made that truly clear.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2025