What “6-7” Reveals About Youth Slang

In conversation with Money FM

Academia educator Jeremiah Sng joined Money FM’s Nadiah Koh for The Big Story: What the Word of the Year “6-7” Reveals About Youth Slang. Published on 28 November 2025, the conversation examined how slang develops, why certain expressions resonate with young people and what these shifts mean for educators.

Listen to the original conversation →

When “67”, pronounced “six-seven”, was selected as Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year, the choice puzzled many adults. The expression has no single, agreed meaning, but its popularity offers a useful illustration of how young people use language to signal humour, familiarity and belonging. 

Slang has always helped communities establish a shared identity. An expression does not necessarily need a precise definition to be socially meaningful, particularly when recognising and using it shows that someone understands the same cultural reference. What is interesting today is the scale at which such language can spread. A phrase can move rapidly from a song, video or small online community into social-media feeds, school corridors and everyday conversation, often becoming detached from its original context along the way.

This creates an important opportunity for language education. Rather than dismissing every unfamiliar phrase as incorrect or meaningless, educators can use it to discuss audience, tone and register, and the ways in which language changes according to purpose and setting. A student may use slang comfortably among friends while choosing clearer and more formal language in an essay, presentation or interview. Strong communication depends not on speaking formally at all times, but on identifying which form of expression is appropriate for a particular audience.

Parents can approach unfamiliar slang with the same measured curiosity. Asking where an expression came from, how it is used and whether it would be suitable in other settings can open a wider conversation about media habits, friendships and communication. “6-7” will eventually give way to another expression, as youth slang always does. A more lasting lesson is that language is hardly static. Youths and adults alike can benefit from learning both how it evolves and how to use it with precision and judgement.