The ‘6-7’ TikTok Meme Has Been 120 Years in the Making

As any parent of today’s teenagers knows, listening to your progeny often feels like you’re eavesdropping on some secret society that has its own language. The words and phrases — “no cap,” “skibidi,” and the most recent and perplexing of all, “6-7” — sound like thieves’ cant.

Coverage of this linguistic inventiveness has been predictable, with most summing up these trends as a common part of adolescence — the period of transition between childhood and adulthood.