Wed, Dec 17, 2025 12:11

An Atlas Obscura piece, drawing on Iona and Peter Opie’s work on children’s folklore, explores the meaning of the seemingly meaningless “67”:

“And through these quaint ready-made formulas the ridiculousness of life is underlined, the absurdity of the adult world and their teachers proclaimed, danger and death mocked, and the curiosity of language itself is savoured.”

The ridiculousness and pointlessness of “67” is perhaps why it has succeeded so extravagantly as a meme, breaking out of the classroom to become Word of the Year: it perfectly encapsulates everything the Opies understood that kids need out of their private jokes.

Ian Bogost, meanwhile, offers a useful counterpoint on how fragile such memes become once exposed to adult attention and monetization

[W]hat started in their network soon became a social currency for adults online. Gen Xers and Millennials—the parents of today’s middle schoolers—couldn’t leave six-seven be; they’re accustomed to burning through such memes like their parents or grandparents did cigarettes, as if culture writ large can withstand habitual abuse. Social-media-influencer culture also latched on to the phrase for its own attentional ends, as did brands, the indefatigable scavengers. These forces stole six-seven from the kids who had nurtured it.