Annual Banished Words List Highlights '6-7' and Other Overused Terms

Respondents to an annual Michigan college survey of overused and misused words and phrases say "6-7" is “cooked” and should come to a massive full-stop heading into the new year. Those are among the top 10 words on the 50th annual “Banished Words List,” released Thursday by Lake Superior State University. The tongue-in-cheek roundup of overused slang started in 1976 as a New Year’s Eve party idea, and is affectionately called the list of “Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.” Around 1,400 submissions came from all 50 states and a number of countries outside the U.S., including Uzbekistan, Brazil and Japan, according to Lake Superior State.

Also in the top 10 are “demure,” “incentivize,” “perfect,” “gift/gifted,” “my bad” and “reach out.” “My bad” and “reach out” also made the list decades ago — in 1998 and 1994, respectively. “The list definitely represents the fad and vernacular trends of the younger generation,” said David Travis, Lake Superior State University president. “Social media allows a greater opportunity to misunderstand or misuse words. We’re using terms that are shared through texting, primarily, or through posting with no body language or tone context. It’s very easy to misunderstand these words.”

Few phrases in 2025 befuddled parents, teachers and others over the age of, say 40, more than “6-7.” Dictionary.com even picked it as their 2025 word of the year, while other dictionaries chose words like “slop” and “rage bait.” But what does “6-7” actually mean? It exploded over the summer, especially among Gen Z, and is considered by many to be nonsensical in meaning — an inside joke driven by social media. “Don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” the dictionary’s editors wrote. Each number can be spoken aloud as “six, seven.” They even can be combined as the number 67; at college basketball games, some fans explode when a team reaches that point total.

The placement of “6-7” at the top of the banished list puts it in good company. In 2019, the centuries-old Latin phrase “quid pro quo” was the top requested phrase to ban from popular use. In 2017, "fake news" got the most votes.

Alana Bobbitt, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is unapologetic about using “6-7.” “I find joy in it,” Bobbitt said. “It’s a little bit silly, and even though I don’t understand what it means, it’s fun to use.” Jalen Brezzell says a small group of his friends use “6-7” and that it comes up a couple of times each week. But he won’t utter it. “Never. I don’t really get the joke,” said Brezzell, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “I don’t see what’s funny about it.” But banning it, even in jest, might be a bit of a stretch, he said, adding that he does use other words and phrases on the list. “I’ve always used the word ‘cooked,’” Brezzell said. “I just think it got popular on the internet over this past year. It’s saying, like, ‘give it up, it’s over.’”

Some of the phrases do have longevity, Travis said. “I don’t think they’ll ever go away, like ‘at the end of the day,’” he said. “I used ‘my bad’ today. I feel comfortable using it. I started using it when I was young. A lot of us older people are still using it.” Travis said that while some terms on the list “will stick around in perpetuity,” others will be fleeting. “I think ‘6-7,’ next year, will be gone,” he said.