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“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 12:8, NLT).
After picking up four of my grandkids at school and driving them home, I heard one of my grandsons say, “67,” and everyone laughed. A few minutes later, another said, “67,” and again everyone laughed.
I asked them, “What does ‘67’ mean?” To which one of them replied, “Nothing.” To which I replied, “You just said, ’67,’ it has to have a meaning.” To which another grandchild said, “It’s hard for some to understand (implying those over the age of 15), but it means nothing at all.”
“Impossible,” I thought, and thus my quest to find a meaning for “67.” What did I find? Well, Dictionary.com lists “67” as its “2025 Word of the Year.” Dictionaries define words; certainly Dictionary.com had the meaning. Below are quotes from their explanation for “67” …
If it’s a surprise to you that 67 (pronounced “six seven”) is somehow newsworthy, don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means … it is a viral, ambiguous slang term that has waffled its way through Gen Alpha social media and school hallways. While the term is largely nonsensical, some argue it means “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that,” especially when paired with a hand gesture where both palms face up and move alternately up and down.
Initially used in the song Doot Doot by the singer Skrilla (please don’t show your age by thinking “Doot Doot” and “Skrilla” as indecipherable as “67”), we do know that it can be used to answer almost any question: “What’s the weather like outside?” To which an under-fifteen-year-old, while motioning up and down with palms turned up, responds, “It’s 67.”
And if you’re a grandparent, you’re semi-cool by not thinking your grandkid just told you the temperature.
Those of my generation shouldn’t be surprised by the meaninglessness expressed in the media. In Seinfeld, a popular sitcom in the 90s, an episode entitled “The Pitch” had George and Jerry sitting in Monk’s Café, with George giving Jerry a pitch for a new show …
Jerry: “What’s the show about?”
George: “It’s about nothing.”
Jerry: “So you’re saying that I go into NBC and say, ‘I’ve got this idea for a show about nothing?’”
Those of us who get aggravated about the meaningless term “67” can’t get miffed if they watched Seinfeld. Seinfeld and “67” — both about nothing, with the only current danger or frustration of “67” being teachers in the hallways of schools trying to get students to stop saying, “67.”
Now, armed with my research on “67,” I stood with my grandkids a few days ago, along with a group of their friends, and said, “67.” Knowing the lingo, expecting an affinity, all of them fell silent — into an embarrassed silence. Then I realized, “Oops, I’m way over 15 years old and should act my age.”
Now you know about “67,” but when you hear it, don’t try to be cool.