All it took was a three-pointer from Purple Aces college men’s basketball player Trent Hudley, and Evansville’s fans lost their minds.
Students erupted from their seats at Ford Center — screaming, cheering, dancing, waving their hands up and down. This was the moment they’d all been hoping for as each point creeped its way up the scoreboard during a matchup Friday, Nov. 7, with the Calumet Crimson Wave.
“These kids are going nuts over something I know nothing about,” laughed one announcer in a video shared later on ESPN’s Facebook page as well as Instagram account.
Hudley hadn’t made the game-winning basket, but his three-pointer did earn the Purple Aces a score of 67, and a crowd of mostly young students hollered with excitement.
Watch the moment Evansville basketball fans cheer when their team scores 67 points
Evansville would go on to eventually win the game, 92-50, according to ESPN. But why the jubilation from Hudley’s three-pointer? The reason boils down perhaps to the most popular slang term of 2025.
“6-7” (also “67” and “six-seven”), has entered the American lexicon courtesy of Gen Alpha. Its meaning is difficult to define, but the popular slang has become Dictionary.com’s “Word of the Year.”
If you’re not familiar with Gen Alpha terms, here’s a quick breakdown of what “6-7” means and why it’s been embraced by young people across the country.
Where does ‘6-7’ or ‘six seven’ come from?
The origin of 6-7 (never pronounced as sixty-seven, by the way) can be traced back to a hip-hop song called “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla. Online content creators soon used Skrilla’s song in Tiktok videos featuring basketball players. Some of those videos went viral, popularizing the 6-7 term across the internet.
Taylen Kinney, a 6-foot-1 guard from Newport, Kentucky, who almost played for IU basketball, is credited by The Athletic in spreading the virality of “6-7” when he played in high school. Kenney would later launch his own drink brand, 6 7 Water, on June 7 (6/7).
Within weeks, writes Dictionary.com, teachers were trading tips online about how to get their students to stop saying 6-7. As a testament to how ubiquitous the trend of shouting “six seven” had grown, it became featured in an episode of “South Park.” Character Butters Stotch goes around his elementary school saying different “6-7” jokes to his friends.
“You want to know what time I woke up this morning?” Butters asks. “Around 6-7.” His friends gleefully say “6-7” in response, mirroring a popular hand motion associated with the term.
Saying “6 7” is often accompanied with a hand wave, a sort-of juggling motion that can be seen in the video of Evanville’s basketball game shared by ESPN.
What does ’67’ mean?
If you’re among the older generations struggling to understand what “67” means, keep the following in mind: it’s a word that can convey a feeling, a joyful outburst, rather than carrying a strict definition.
Essentially? It’s complete and utter nonsense, and that’s OK.
“It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance,” Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning said in a news release. “When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling.”
While some interpret the phrase to mean “so-so” or “maybe this, maybe that,” the term is also used as an exclamation, according to a Dictionary.com news release.
“It’s one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection – a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means,” Johnson said.
So for the time being, get used to seeing Gen Alpha youths shouting “six seven” to each other in the hallways of classroom, at home, or at college basketball games the world over.
Aaron Ferguson, assistant IndyStar sports editor, contributed. Greta Cross is a National Trending Reporter at USA TODAY.
John Tufts covers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Find him on BlueSky at JohnWritesStuff.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Evansville college basketball player sinks this 3-pointer; the crowd went nuts. Here’s why
Reporting by John Tufts and Greta Cross, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
